


After the Landslide

by FreyaAtterton



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Angry Peter, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Depression, Drama, Emotional Hurt, Family, Family Drama, Feels, Gen, Homeless Peter Parker, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Injured Peter Parker, Irondad, Orphan Peter Parker, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Deserves Better, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Peter Parker is a Mess, Peter is important, Poor Peter Parker, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Worth Issues, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, Trust Issues, Whump, spiderson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:08:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 59,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23362975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreyaAtterton/pseuds/FreyaAtterton
Summary: It’s common knowledge that Tony Stark hates not knowing things. Like the identity of the new superhero in town, Spiderman. Then he finally figures it out. But he kinda wishes he hadn't.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 410
Kudos: 1724





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! This is my first story in this universe. After reading thousands of Irondad stories, I decided to come up with my own.  
> I hope you'll enjoy it!
> 
> Title comes from a song by Matt Simons.  
> Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel.

Peter Parker opens his eyes and smiles. The sun is shining through the broken window and strokes his face with a promise of a beautiful day. For a second, he forgets it’s January and his home has been an abandoned warehouse for the last couple of months. He forgets how cold he was when he returned from patrolling last night and he needed four blankets to fall asleep on his makeshift bed made from cardboard and an old mattress. His teeth just couldn’t stop chattering.

But it’s morning again, a beautiful morning with blue sky and sunshine. He doesn’t even have to get dressed because he slept with nearly all of his clothes on. He just needs to grab his backpack and go to school where it’s warm and where he can meet his friends again. Ned and MJ are the only family he has now. And even though he misses his parents, his uncle and aunt, he knows he should be grateful for his friends. And no, he never feels jealous because they have all the basic things he lacks: parents, home and a warm bed.

Okay, maybe sometimes he does feel jealous. He wishes his parents were still alive or he wishes he could still live with Aunt May. And she would wake him up every morning instead of his phone. She would make him breakfast and when he leaves for school, she would say: ‘Take care, Peter!’ Now no one makes him breakfast and no one looks out for him.

But it’s fine. Because he can take care of himself, thank you very much and it’s a beautiful morning, so there’s really no need to complain. He’s Spiderman after all, a superhero, of course he can take care of himself. Even if it’s January and he lives in a deserted building. Plus, he has a lot to do. He has school, then work and at nights patrolling. He’s way too busy to feel sorry for himself.

Peter grabs his backpack and swings down from the second-floor window of the warehouse. As usual, he lands on the ground behind the building to avoid attention and then reaches into his backpack to pull out a sandwich that he can eat on his way to school. Benefits of working at a grocery store. Before the store closes for the night, the manager gives Peter food that they couldn’t sell next day. Like this ham and cheese sandwich. And the tuna sandwich that will be perfect for lunch.

As he walks down the street to the subway, a car suddenly brakes next to him and the sound of screeching tires practically freezes him. A car horn. A yell. Peter doesn’t dare to look. If somebody has just been hit, he doesn’t want to see. He knows he should check if he could help, he’s a superhero after all and this is the right thing to do anyway but he just stands there on the sidewalk with eyes squeezed shut, half-eaten sandwich falling from his hand.

~

“Mr. Peter Parker, come into the principal’s office, please.”

“I’m so sorry, Peter, there has been an accident. It’s your aunt.”

“I’m sorry, son, she’s gone. She died on impact; there was nothing we could do.”

“Peter, is there someone who could pick you up? A relative maybe? Is there anyone?”

“Peter, my mom says you can stay with us for now.”

Those few weeks were like a blur for Peter. He doesn’t really remember what happened after he had got the news on her aunt. On the hit and run that happened while she was going to work. There was a social worker, and then Ned’s parents were kind enough to let him stay with them for a few weeks. Until they find him a foster family, that is.

And when those first few horrible days passed, Peter understood he might have lost more than his aunt and his old home. Of course he couldn’t stay at Ned’s forever, even though that would have been the most convenient way to settle things. And it wasn’t really likely that they would find him a foster family in Queens, so that he could stay at his school and with his friends. No, they would take him away, maybe out of the city and he would have to start everything anew. New family, new place to live, new school, new friends. And he didn’t want that. He didn’t want to let go of the very last pieces of his old life. He didn’t want more changes. He couldn’t turn back time and go back to his old life when he had lived happily with Aunt May, he knew that but he wasn’t ready to leave literally everything behind. He just couldn’t do that.

He had to stay as close to his old life as possible. He had to keep what he could: his friends, his school, Queens. If only he could have stayed on his own here! He was already 15 and May always said he was much more mature than kids at his age. He could take care of himself. He did all the time when May had to stay late at work. It couldn’t be that hard. But he couldn’t do it legally. Which sucked. So he came up with a story. He was thinking about it at many sleepless nights in Ned’s room and he worked out every tiny detail.

Aunt May has a cousin, Mary. No, Carol. No, Julia. Yes, her name is Julia. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and three kids. Two sons, one daughter. They didn’t meet that often, but May and Julia talked over the phone sometimes. Julia was there at Uncle Ben’s funeral, too.

Peter wanted to call her when May died but he was in shock (true) and totally forgot about Julia. And then he remembered but he didn’t have her number. May did. Then Peter found it in May’s notes. So he called her and told her the news. Julia was absolutely devastated. Of course she would take Peter in. Yes, he would have to share a room with her eldest son, Jake but it’s okay. Yes, Peter can stay at his school, no problem.

Peter knows a therapist would say it’s not surprising that he came up with a story about a fake aunt. This is his way to cope, to compensate his loss. And he has created such a vivid, detailed story about Aunt Julia that sometimes he pretends it’s real. He still has an aunt. There’s still someone asking him about his day and school. Someone who cooks dinner for him. Someone who cares about him. Peter knows it’s all fake but yeah. Sometimes it’s just easier to pretend than to face the harsh reality. It makes life hurt a bit less.

It still amazes Peter that his story actually worked. Neither the social worker, nor the principal minded that they never met Julia in person. Peter had plenty of excuses why Julia could never come but sent emails instead. Yes, Peter would gladly take the documents to her to sign.

On one hand, Peter was really happy that it worked and he didn’t have to go to a foster family and he could stay in the city with his friends. On the other hand, it made him sick how rotten the system was that something like this could happen. That the social worker and the principal were so happy to find a quick solution that they didn’t bother to look further. They never took a second look at the forged documents that Peter made at a school computer. They believed everything Peter told them because it was easier then asking questions.

The only person who did ask questions was Ned. Yeah, Ned asked like a zillion questions as he always does. Bless him. The only person who actually cares about Peter. Who really wants to know if he’s doing okay. It’s been the hardest to lie to him. But what is Peter supposed to do? 

If Ned knew the truth what could he do? Nothing, right? He wouldn’t call the authorities, no, he’d never do that to Peter but he would just worry himself sick. No, Peter can’t do that to him. He can’t drag Ned into the mess his life has become.

So Peter moved out from Ned’s room and found his new home in the warehouse. Which is honestly not that bad. May never had too much money anyway and Peter has never needed too much stuff, so he’s been good, he’s been used to not having much. He got that job at the store, so he has some money. Okay, when winter started, it has become somewhat more challenging to stay in a building with practically no intact door or window and absolutely no heating, but it’s just a few more weeks until spring, right?

Maybe it would be even easier, if the bite hadn’t happened. Oh, yeah, the bite.

He doesn’t really know how that happened. He just felt that strange sting, he thought it was a mosquito, but no, it was more painful. On instinct, he slapped the back of his neck where he felt the prickle and when a little creature fell on the floor, he took a closer look. It was an ugly spider, a kind he had never seen before. With strange coloring. Must have been something exotic accidently shipped in from a tropical country. But he didn’t have time to dwell on it, and the sting didn’t hurt that much anyway, so he quickly moved on.

That night he had a fever. And it didn’t break for three days. He was lying on his mattress in the warehouse in a delirious state. It was awful. Painful. His whole body ached. He was ready to come clean, to go into foster care even if that meant leaving New York and his friends, he didn’t really care. Just somebody, please, help him! Make the pain stop! He wanted to text Ned, he wanted to call 911 but he was way too weak to even grab his phone.

He thought he would die. Alone in an abandoned warehouse. Rats would eat up his dead body before he could be found.

And at the end of the second horrible day, he accepted his fate. It was okay. He dies and he can meet his parents, his uncle and aunt again. He can have a family again. This is what he has always wanted, right? It’s gonna be okay. He’s gonna be so happy. Maybe he should try to sleep and when he wakes up, he’ll be with them. Yeah, that’s a good idea.  
He fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Morning came and broke his fever. But when he opened his eyes and didn’t feel pain anymore, he wasn’t relieved. He felt disappointed that he was still here. In this dirty warehouse and not with his family. He just curled into a ball and cried. He never felt lonelier in his life. Happiness and peaceful release were so close to him and they slipped away yet again. Just how many more heartbreaks can someone take?

Sometime later, he decided to try and find something good in the turn of events. Maybe it was not his time yet. Maybe he still has a purpose here on Earth. And when he realized how that little bite changed him, he knew this was it. He has found his purpose. He has become Spiderman.

~

Peter realizes the sounds around him have changed. Just regular sounds of traffic on a Tuesday morning. No more screaming. No ambulance coming. He slowly opens his eyes and takes a look around. There are cars and people in hurry everywhere. Everything is absolutely normal. No one has been hit. No one has died.

There’s something moving around his legs. It’s a cat. It completely ignores Peter and goes for his dropped sandwich instead. It eats the ham and the cheese and pays no attention to the bread. Where has it come from? Right. It might be a stray cat that has crossed the road causing the alarm earlier.

Peter crouches down to scratch the cat’s ear, but it focuses solely on the remains of Peter’s breakfast. He gives the feline a sad smile. Not the first time he’s ignored. But it’s just a cat, he shouldn’t take it personal. He’s on his way to school and he’s going to meet his friends, so there’s no point being sour, right?

It’s a beautiful day and everything is fine.

It has to be.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Here's the second chapter, stay home and read :)  
> Thanks for the hits, kudos and comments, you've made me really happy, guys :)  
> Enjoy & stay safe!  
> Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel. I wish.

Peter is sitting in the dining hall eating his tuna sandwich. He smiles when he remembers the stray cat he met this morning. The feline would have probably preferred the tuna to the ham and cheese sandwich he dropped. Anyway, these sandwiches have one thing in common: they’re both too small. Especially, when he drops half of them on the ground.

Peter is so hungry. Since he became Spiderman, he’s appetite has become like huge. He could eat all the other kids’ lunch in the canteen right now. It’s really great that he has superhuman strength, can stick to walls, have senses that warn him of danger and has an incredible healing factor, but if he could pick just one of his newly gained abilities to give up, he would definitely choose the extraordinary appetite. He loves eating but he hates that food equals trouble now and not a wonderful variety of flavors like before. Food isn’t something he enjoys anymore but a problem he needs to work out.

And being hungry is not the only problem that comes with the lack of food, he also feels weak and his injuries heal way slower when he doesn’t have enough to eat. And that really sucks if you go out as a superhero every night to fight crime. It’s not like criminals would take it easy on Peter just because he had to skip dinner again.

“So what are you saying? Are you coming over?” Ned asks from the other side of the table.

For a second, Peter doesn’t know what his friend is talking about. Then it clicks. Right. The weekend. Ned asked him if he could come over for the weekend.

After Peter moved in with Aunt Julia (according to the official story), Ned has invited Peter to spend the weekend with his family several times. Aunt Julia lives in Brooklyn, which is not that far but if Peter stays for the weekend at Ned’s, they can spend more time together. That means more Lego building, more video games and more movies.

And to Peter, it also means a few nights in a warm place, even though he sleeps on the floor in Ned’s room, but that’s okay compared to the old mattress in the warehouse. So much more than okay. And it also means home-cooked meals. Being with people. Being with family. Snippets of a normal life just like Peter’s life was up until a few months ago. Now that life seems like an old dream. So far out of his reach that it might have never even happened.

Yeah, it would be nice to stay with the Leeds’ for a few days. Pretending everything is okay. Ignoring the stinging feeling that just a short time ago, he also had everything Ned still has. Suppressing the feeling of jealousy. Not complaining that it’s not fair.

Because it’s so fucking unfair that it’s always him who loses everyone and everything, while life goes on for others and they still have their families and homes and they don’t have to stay alone in a cold warehouse every night crying themselves into sleep.

But... that’s not the real reason why Peter can’t go. The last time when he accepted the invitation, he almost blew his cover story about Aunt Julia’s family. Mrs. Leeds asked Peter how Julia’s family was doing. She asked if her daughter was still sick. For a minute, Peter had no idea what Mrs. Leeds was talking about. Then he remembered.

A few days before, Ned had told Peter he had looked sick. Of course, Peter hadn’t been sick; he couldn’t ever get sick since the bite. But Ned couldn’t know that, he couldn’t know Peter was just exhausted after patrolling all night. So he had told Ned Julia’s daughter had caught the flu and Peter might have caught it from her, too.

After remembering the conversation, Peter assured Mrs. Leeds that the little girl was just fine. But Ned stared at him weird. It turned out Peter said a wrong name for the girl. When Ned pointed it out, Peter laughed embarrassed and explained the girl had this crazy idea to change her name and asked everyone to call her on the new one. And that’s exactly what Peter did.

Fortunately, Ned believed the stupid lie and moved on. But Peter could never rest after the incident; he kept reminding himself to think twice before speaking. And the weekend that should have been like a short vacation, turned into a nightmare because he could never let go, he was in a constant fear that he might let something slip and his cover would be blown. He could hardly wait to get back to his warehouse that suddenly seemed like a safe haven.

At least, he doesn’t have to lie to anyone there, he doesn’t have to put a brave face on and act as if everything is alright. Yeah, he knows the reason for that. He doesn’t have to lie to anyone there because there’s literally no one in that damned building. He’s utterly alone.

Peter knows he could always come clean to Ned. His friend would feel sad and disappointed that Peter didn’t tell him the truth at the beginning, but he would quickly forgive him. Peter knows that. Ned has such a good heart.

And it would be awesome to finally share at least some of his secrets with someone. Because Peter’s life has been so full of secrets lately. Secrets about the place he lives, the people he stays with and the extra job at nights. Peter practically lies to everyone in his life. Not that there are so many people in his life but still. And sometimes he feels his secrets are about to crush him. And he’s so tangled in the web of lies that he’ll never get out. Or maybe he will. When he accidentally blurts out something he shouldn’t and exposes himself as a liar. That would be spectacular.

But then again, what would happen if he came clean to Ned? Ned would feel sorry for Peter. He couldn’t offer anything to Peter but his empathy and pity. Plus, Ned would feel just as miserable as Peter. Yeah, he doesn’t want to do that to his best friend. Ned doesn’t deserve that.

So Peter sticks to his earlier decision not to tell anything to Ned and in order to avoid any possible embarrassing and dangerous situation at the Leeds’, he passes on Ned’s invitation. He says he needs to take some extra shifts at the store because he needs money to buy a birthday gift for Aunt Julia. She has been so kind to take Peter in, right? He wants to show her how grateful he is.

And it’s actually only a half-lie. Because Peter will take extra shifts. Money is always good and what else could he do at the weekend anyway?

~

It’s 10pm and Peter is settled on a rooftop looking over Queens. It’s one of his usual lookout spots. In the past few hours he caught three muggers, stopped a motorbike theft, helped out a group of elderly Japanese tourists who couldn’t find their way back to their hotel and also helped a five-year old girl find her lost teddy bear she can’t sleep without. Just another average night. A few more hours and Peter is heading back to the warehouse to sleep a bit before school. Or maybe he could call it a night now because tomorrow he’s gonna have Spanish and Calculus test, so he could really use some extra rest.

But criminals would never hold back just because Spiderman has tests the next day, right? He should stay a bit longer. He takes a granola bar from his ratty backpack and pulls out his phone. He absentmindedly scrolls through the news while snacking. He only reads the headlines. Until he finds a report on an award gala where Tony Stark presented one of the awards. It’s some kind of science stuff. Peter takes a long look at the photo of Mr. Stark and the honored scientist.

One day that’ll be him. The scientist guy receiving an award from Mr. Stark. And Mr. Stark will offer him a job at Stark Industries and they will work together in his lab. Mr. Stark might even let Peter help him work on one of the Iron Suits. And Peter will suggest upgrades to Mr. Stark, yeah, he’ll come up with tons of brilliant ideas. He might even suggest integrating web shooters into one of the suits. How cool that would be? On the other hand, Iron Man’s repulsors are pretty effective as they are. And Iron Man can fly so he doesn’t really need webs to swing around. Still. This is Peter’s dream. To work with Tony Stark. His idol since his childhood. Superhero and genius in one person. Is there anything cooler than that?

Suddenly, an alarm goes off on the street underneath. Peter gets up and leans over the ledge to take a good look. Two guys – not much older than Peter himself – are attempting to steal a car. Setting off the alarm couldn’t have been a part of their plan and now they are discussing if they should go on with the stealing or just leave the car behind and run before the police arrives.

Peter decides to help them with the decision. He pulls down his mask, shoots a web to a lamppost on the other side of the street and swings down, landing on the top of the car in question.

“I agree with you, you should really leave, guys” Spiderman says pointing at the shorter boy with red hair and freckles then hops down to the ground.

The guys stagger back shocked. Then the red-haired one turns to his friend. “See? I told you!”

“I’m not taking advice from a nobody in a shitty Halloween costume!” the other guy yells and launches forward to Spiderman with a crowbar in his hands.

The superhero swiftly moves out of his way and the guy plummets into the side of the car, breaking the window with the bar. He slowly straightens up swaying on his feet.

All of a sudden, police sirens sound from the distance.

The red-haired boy turns to Spiderman frightened. “Please, Mr. Spiderman, let us go! We won’t do anything bad ever again!”

The superhero smiles under his mask. “Nothing illegal?” he asks trying to force as much authority into his voice as possible.

“Nothing, never!” the boy swears and without waiting for a response, he runs away.

His friend makes a different decision, though. He shakes his head trying to get rid of the last bits of dizziness and attacks Spiderman again.

But he has no chance against the senses and extraordinary speed Spiderman owns. The superhero jumps out of his way again and this time the guy lands face down on the ground. “Really?” Spiderman snorts rolling his eyes. “It’s the best you’ve got?”

Feeling encouraged, the guy gives another try. Then another. And another. And Spiderman easily dodges every weak punch, every lame attempt to attack. Meanwhile, the police sirens sound from a closer distance.

“Okay, this is getting boring and I have a tough day tomorrow. I don’t have time for this,” Spiderman shrugs and webs the guy to the car. “Say hi to the police for me, will you?”

He shoots a web to the roof where he left his backpack and swings up. Once on the roof, he collects his stuff and decides to call it a night. It’s getting late and he’s really tired now. He yawns and steps up on the ledge to swing back to the warehouse.

But then a few blocks away, he can see some weird purple lights flaring up. He decides to check it out. No, he shouldn’t. It must be just some kind of party, nothing illegal or dangerous. He has school tomorrow. Two tests. He has to go to sleep.

But who is he kidding? Of course, he will swing by and see what’s going on. He has to know. If it’s really nothing – and probably it is –, he’ll be on his way. It’ll take only a minute. What could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Famous last words, right? :)  
> Anyway, I know Tony had only a cameo here but trust me, next chapter is gonna be all Iron Man ;)  
> Thank you for reading and I'd love to hear your thoughts.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Here is the third chapter and it's all Tony Stark. He might even meet a certain spider ;)  
> I hope you'll love it.  
> Thanks for the hits, kudos and comments.  
> Stay safe and enjoy!  
> Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel. I wish.

It's late at night and Tony Stark is sitting in his living room watching the same videos over and over again. Spiderman stopping a car before it would crash into a train. Spiderman disarming muggers. Spiderman stopping a bank robbery. Spiderman catching a school bus full of kids, as it is about to fall off a bridge. And last but not least, his personal favorite: Spiderman bringing down a cat from a tree and returning it to an elderly lady.

Tony honestly can't remember how many times he has seen the few dozen videos of Spiderman that have gone viral lately. Who is this guy? Where does he come from? Considering his ability to stick to walls defying the laws of physics, he's obviously enhanced but how? Was he born this way or has he escaped from a lab? Is he some kind of secret experiment gone rogue? And most of all: is he a good or a bad guy?

Okay, he rescues people and cats but still. What if it's just a disguise? And he has some kind of evil master plan and the first step is to convince people that he's a good guy. So when he does something bad, no one will suspect it's been him.

"Don't be ridiculous, Tony," Pepper laughed when he told her about his theory. "You just overcomplicate things like always."

"So you can honestly say he's harmless?" he asked back.

"I guess so," Pepper shrugged. "He hasn't done anything bad. But I don't know him."

"Exactly!" Tony called triumphantly. "We don't know him! No one knows him!"

"Does it mean he's dangerous, though?" she mused.

"Could be," Tony frowned.

"I think it just makes you mad that you don't know what's going on with him," Pepper shrugged again. "He's a new superhero in the city, and you don't know anything about him and it drives you crazy. New guy doesn't necessarily equal villain."

And Tony knows she's right. Seeing potential danger around Spiderman has been his way to justify his utter frustration. He feels frustrated because he doesn't know anything about the superhero. Tony knows a lot of things. He hates not knowing something. He hates not to be able to figure out something. Mysteries exist to be solved. And so far, Spiderman has turned out to be a mystery he can't figure out. He already hates the guy.

He and Friday have tried literally everything. They have analyzed every little detail of the videos; Tony has even visited the location of Spiderman's rescue missions and talked to witnesses, people who made the videos. They couldn't give him much: Spiderman was male. Probably. He talks a lot, he has a sense of humor and cracks jokes all the time. Average height. Maybe a bit thin but strong, oh, so strong. If there was anything odd on him? You mean besides the red and blue suit and his webs?

Yeah, Tony could add one more thing: whoever this Spiderman is, he's not a billionaire like himself. If that's the only suit he can afford. That red-blue onesie. And those goggles! Gosh, the guy is in desperate need of an upgrade. On the other hand, Tony could see some kind of device on his wrists. Where the webs come from. So he must be good at making things, inventing devices like that. That or he has a nerd sidekick.

And there's maybe one more thing. Spiderman doesn't use weapons. He doesn't seem to have any. He just uses his strength, speed and webs. And he never kills the criminals he fights; he just incapacitates and wraps them with his web as a kind of gift to the police that never catch up on him.

Tony knows there's a police file on Spiderman, a basically empty file. They don't know anything about him either (although Tony would be surprised if they knew more than him), and they don't like it either. Just like Tony, they hate unknown players on the field, even if they seem to be on their side.

Tony watches the video of the school bus again, admires the brute strength Spiderman uses to maneuver back the bus onto the road and watches as the rescued kids cheer on the vehicle while Spiderman waves at them before swinging away.

"Okay, Friday, have you noticed anything new now?" he tiredly asks his AI already knowing the answer.

"Just like the two thousand six hundred and fifty-three times I analyzed the footage before, nothing, sir," Friday replies dryly.

Tony sighs and runs his hands through his hair. "Okay, I think I need some fresh air. And by fresh air, I mean Iron Man time," he clasps his hands and gets up.

"Of course, boss," Friday agrees.

Tony walks towards the window and with each step his suit builds up around his frame. By the time he reaches the now open window, his face plate moves into place, too and Iron Man is ready for action.

"Showtime," he mutters and shoots up into the sky.

~

It's not the first time that Tony heads towards Queens. That's where Spiderman operates and he hopes he might finally meet him. The guy usually swings around at night, which means he must have a day job.

Tony spent a few nights in the area before, sometimes as Iron Man and sometimes as Tony Stark hoping he would bump into the superhero. But that never happened. Once or twice he saw him swinging between buildings but that's it. Maybe it wasn't even him. He only saw a blur of red and blue, but it could have been anything. Maybe he just imagined it was Spiderman because he so desperately wanted to find out who the guy was.

Flying to Queens, he considers setting up a trap for Spiderman. He could fake a dangerous situation that requires Spiderman's help. Tony could hire some guys that would pretend to mug him. Or even to kill him. And Spiderman would arrive to save him and Tony could finally meet the guy. But not tonight. Being in his armor, no one would think he needs saving, right?

"Boss, there's a bank robbery about to happen only two blocks from you," Friday suddenly breaks into his thoughts.

Then again, maybe it's a good thing that he's in his suit.

"Let's go, Fri," he replies, immediately forgetting about Spiderman and flies toward the address that appears on his screen. A few seconds later, he is already at the scene.

The area seems deserted except for two guys in front of a building. They carry some kind of big, weird and apparently heavy device to the entrance. It looks like a metal box with colorful wires and switches all over it.

"I can detect another heat signature in the black van parking on the other side of the street," Friday remarks.

"Must be the getaway driver," Tony answers. "Friday, what is that thing they have there?"

"I don't know, boss. There's no match to any known weapon."

"So we are honored to meet some very creative bank robbers. Lucky us. Let's ask them where they found that stuff."

A second later, Tony lands behind the criminals in his trademark Iron Man fashion. "'Evening, gentlemen. Can I join the party?"

The men jump surprised. But one of them – the shorter, older one in glasses – quickly regains his composure and grins. "Be our guest, Iron Man."

He turns a switch on the device and purple lights flare up all over it. Plus, there's a weird buzzing sound and Tony carefully takes a step back trying to prepare for whatever the machine is about to do. It might be a bomb, but then why aren't the bad guys moving? Why are they just standing there grinning at him as if they're waiting for the instrument to have some kind of effect on Tony? But it's not doing anything. Just purple lights and a strange sound.

"Am I supposed to be scared?" Tony probes.

"You should be," the guy in glasses laughs.

But nothing is happening!

"Friday, what am I dealing with here? Just a few delusional idiots, right?" Tony asks.

Then out of sudden, all the lights in the bank and some nearby buildings go off. Even the street lights.

"S'r… don't… ev'ryth'… off… not… g'ng…"

"Friday? What's wrong, girl? Friday?!"

But there's no answer.

The lights and signals on Tony's screen disappear. Everything on his armor is off. No matter what function he tries, no matter how many times he calls Friday again, it's all off. As if someone has pulled the plug. The suit is now just a motionless metal shell. Like a statue. And he's been trapped inside. What just happened?

The men in front of him laugh. They even do a high five.

"It works better than I expected," the short thug smirks and walks confidently toward Tony. "You see, Stark, my little invention is supposed to turn off everything electronic in about a block radius. So now we can practically walk into that bank and take whatever we want. Everything is off now. Locks, alarms, everything. Do the police know anything?" he turns back to his partner (probably the muscle in the team, given he's so big), who has a radio in his hand. The guy listens to the device a bit and shakes his head. The man next to Tony smiles. "By the time they realize what happened, we'll be long gone."

The thug starts walking around Tony, which makes him frustrated. If only he could punch that stupid grin off of his face! If only he could raise his metal arm.

"And I'm happy to see that my innovation has also managed to disable the big Iron Man himself," the man laughs again. "I'm all for the money but what if we have some fun first?"

Tony swallows hard. Can the guy unlock his armor? Can Tony unlock it? Because right now he's helpless trapped inside his not operating suit. He should try to get out of it, even though he's not really sure if that's a good idea because he doesn't have any weapons. If he steps out of the armor, he will be defenseless against the bank robbers. At least, the suit protects him. He decides to give it a try anyway but he just can't open it.

"Hey, guys, I heard you said fun. Can I come, too?"

Great, someone else wants to join the party. Tony and the goons look around to find the source of the new voice and there he is. Spiderman in his lousy red-blue suit, crouching on the top of a truck, looking down and waving at them like an old friend.

Tony rolls his eyes. This is not how he imagined his first encounter with Spiderman. Yes, he might have considered a scenario like this a few minutes ago, but that was supposed to be fake. With hired thugs, not real ones and definitely not with a useless suit.

"Come on, not you, too. What is this, a comic con?" short guy snorts. "This is supposed to be a peaceful bank robbery, no more."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you but I can't allow that," Spiderman claims and gets up putting his hands on his hips and shaking his head. As if he is some kind of annoyed parent scolding misbehaving children. "No robbing banks or hurting Mr. Stark tonight."

Tony rolls his eyes again. Great, it's just great. He is going to be saved by Spiderman. There goes his authority.

"Yeah? And what are you going to do about it, bug?" the goon demands clearly unimpressed.

"Well, I'm glad you asked, Mr. Bank Robber. I'm gonna try this first," Spiderman replies and shoots a web at the electrifying device. Then another one. And another one. He keeps shooting webs at the thing, until it is nearly completely covered with webs and the purple lights are not visible anymore.

The street lights and the lights in the bank start blinking trying to come back to life. Even the Iron Man armor gives some kind of struggling sound.

"Friday, are you back?" Tony whispers but there's no reply. He can't move yet. He groans frustrated because he really doesn't want to wait patiently until the system reboots itself.

In the meantime, Muscle runs toward the truck Spiderman is standing on and reaches for his ankle to yank him off of the vehicle. But Spiderman flips and lands behind the thug on the ground.

"If you wanted me to come down, you should have asked," he says.

Muscle groans and leaps toward Spiderman. A brutal fight ensues. Tony can't believe his own eyes. Muscle is at least twice, no, thrice as big as Spiderman and he's obviously an experienced fighter. But Spiderman can defend himself, thank you very much. He's fast and blocks every hit. Or most of them. And he delivers some ruthless punches himself. He's strong and fast. In spite of the size difference, it seems like an equal fight. Or not really equal. Because Muscle is getting tired, while Spiderman is still in top form.

The other bad guy hurries back to his machine and the motion makes Spiderman turn back to see what's going on. This gives a perfect opportunity to Muscle to hit Spiderman hard. On the head. He staggers back a bit and Muscle grins, waiting for him to collapse. But Spiderman shakes his head and looks up at his opponent.

"Round two?" he asks and the fight continues.

Meanwhile, Tony desperately tries to call Friday back to life. He can see the short thug pulling a knife from his pocket and he is about to cut through the webbing around his device.

"Friday, this would be a really great time for you to wake up from your nap," Tony says through gritted teeth. "Or at least let me out, if you're not any help."

There's a strange sound as the metal pieces of the suit move a bit. And a bit again. With irritating slowness and with a little physical help from Tony, the suit finally opens up and he can step out. He looks to his right. Spiderman and Muscle are still in the middle of their ruthless fight. By now, both of them are slower but they just keep going.

Tony decides to go for the weird inventor guy trying to free his precious instrument.

"I personally prefer it covered with webs," Tony says stepping behind the man. "Never been a fan of purple."

Short guy turns back to him with his knife, but he seems more like a scared kid and not a cruel bad guy who is about to dissect Tony with his sharp weapon. With a malfunctioned device and Tony not trapped in his suit anymore, the thug looks no longer fearless and smug.

"Let's call it a night, shall we?" Tony frowns and with one half-hearted move, he hits the knife out of the man's hand. "Friday, when you're ready to work again, call the police, please?"

"C'rt'nl', b'ss."

Tony smiles hearing the AI's voice again. Even if she's not entirely back yet.

"We should take this piece of shit back to the lab," he says giving the web-covered machine a light kick. "I want to know how it works and how it could knock you out, Friday. Plus, we need to talk about an upgrade, dear. I don't like you being vulnerable to a random mad scientist."

"Yes, s'r," Friday replies.

Okay, everything seems to be alright now, device disarmed, crazy inventor shivering in fear, Muscle is hopefully about to be defeated by Spiderman… But in that very moment, Tony hears gunshots. He counts three. Muscle doesn't have a gun. If he had, he would have used it by now. And the police are not here yet.

"The getaway driver," Tony groans and turns to Spiderman and Muscle.

There's a third man standing behind them and yes, there's a gun in his hand. Spiderman steps back in surprise. But he quickly regains his composure.

"Interrupting a fair fight? Rude, man," he remarks and shoots a web toward the new guy, easily yanking the gun out of his hand. Then he delivers some final punches and knocks Muscle out.

Getaway driver takes just one look at his buddy, who is lying on the ground out cold, then another one at his now empty hands and decides to run. Spiderman shoots another web at him and in the next moment, he's webbed to a lamppost.

Spiderman lets out a big breath and dusts off his hands. "It's been fun, guys, really, thanks for letting me join." Then he turns to Tony giving him a tiny wave. "Are you alright there, Mr. Stark? Suit working again?" And without waiting for a response, he shoots a web to a tall building next to them. "Have a safe trip home, sir," he says and swings away.

Tony just stands there, mouth wide open in awe and then hits his forehead with his fists. How could he let Spiderman get away? How is he supposed to find out who he is now? He's back to square one.

He turns around and hurries back to his suit. It's a long shot, but he has to try. "Friday, let's follow Spiderman."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do you think? Let me know :)  
> Thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, here is the next chapter, let's see if Tony can find the spider he's been looking for.  
> Thanks for the hits, comments and kudos. I hope you'll love this chapter, too.  
> Stay safe and enjoy!  
> Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel. I wish.

As Tony steps back into the suit, he can hear sirens getting closer. The police can take it over from here. He'll even leave the weird device behind if he has to. But he has never been this close to Spiderman and he can't let him get away now. Hopefully, Spiderman can't swing away faster than his Iron Man suit flies.

"How are you, Fri?" he asks.

"System is at 86 percent, boss, still rebooting."

"Great. Let's start at the building Spiderman shot a web to and search for a heat signature swinging between buildings. Wow, that's been a weird sentence," Tony frowns flying off.

"Actually, sir, I can detect a heat signature on the roof of that very building," Friday reveals.

"Really? Let's take a closer look and hope it's him," he says.

Spiderman might need some time to gather himself after the fight. Just because he's strong and enhanced, he could be tired. Or even injured. Some of the hits he took were pretty bad.

Tony lands on the roof smoothly and takes a look around. Friday shows him where to find the person she has spotted.

And there he is: a red and blue figure sitting on the ground, back against some crates, a hand clutching his side. He doesn't notice Tony, hell, he doesn't even move. Tony's stomach swoops with nerves and he can't explain it. He doesn't even know this guy, why would he worry about him? Tony's been the one who said Spiderman could be a bad guy. Or dangerous. Yeah, but it was Spiderman who stopped the bank robbery, fought the bad guys and basically saved Tony.

"Friday?" he calls while stepping out of his armor and carefully walks to Spiderman. The guy still has his ridiculous mask on, so Tony can't see if he's unconscious or not.

"I detect two gunshot wounds and major blood loss. Plus several bruises. Vitals are critical."

Good news? Spiderman is alive and managed to dodge at least one of the bullets. Bad news? Two of them hit him and he might bleed out here.

Tony crouches down beside him and grins as he takes a closer look at the gunshot wounds. The superhero has used his signature web in an attempt to patch himself up. Geez. The webbing might slow down the bleeding, but it's definitely not enough.

"Hey," Tony tries to rouse him gently squeezing his shoulder. "Wake up, spider."

And the guy does wake up. Suddenly, there are weak hands coming up in a sorry attempt to fight off Tony.

"Easy, easy there," the man says catching the flailing limbs. He hopes his voice is reassuring enough. He even forces himself to give a comforting smile even though he doesn't know if Spiderman can see him. "You're safe. I want to help."

Does he now? Where does that come from?

But he has no time to mull over it, because Spiderman's hands go limp in Tony's grasp and he seems unconscious again.

Tony tries to wake him once more, but this time there's no response.

He should take him to the hospital.

"Spiderman requires urgent medical attention, sir," Friday reminds.

Tony sighs and gets up. He steps back into the suit and then hurries back to the fallen superhero. He puts his arms under his back and knees and lifts him up. Gosh, he's so light! Where does his strength come from when he's so light? Tony shakes his head. He has no time for this now, either.

"Friday, call Bruce. We're taking Spiderman home".

~

When Tony lays Spiderman on a bed at the med bay, Bruce is already there waiting for them. Friday must have woken him from his sleep, but the scientist standing by the bed looks anything but tired.

"Tony, is this… is this Spiderman?"

"Oh yeah," Tony frowns and steps out of his suit. "The one and only. He got injured. Help him," he gestures to the small, limp form of the superhero on the bed.

Geez, he looks way too small to be a superhero! But Tony did see him in battle and the way Spiderman fought doesn't leave any doubts about his strength.

Bruce just glares, either hating that Tony gave him orders or that he has so little information. Probably both. He must have tons of questions. He opens his mouth and then closes it; he has probably decided to put all of his doubts aside for now. He sighs. "Okay, what are we dealing with here?" he asks checking Spiderman's pulse.

"Two gunshot wounds on the side. Plus, he's been beaten to a pulp, so it could be anything," Tony shrugs stepping back from the bed.

He doesn't care. He has brought the guy here because he couldn't let him die on that roof, could he? And if he dies, Tony can never get the answers he has been seeking so badly. That's the reason why he has opted for the Tower instead of the hospital, too. In the hospital, the government would find him and probably take him away. And Tony wouldn't get his damned answers. Yeah, that's all. The only reason. Getting answers. Solving the mystery of Spiderman. Beyond that, he doesn't care.

Then why can't he take his eyes off of the motionless guy on the bed, why does he wish so desperately that the injured superhero woke up? He wishes he could see those flailing hands coming up again to fight. Tony hasn't seen much of Spiderman yet, but when he did see him, he was fighting. He was energetic and tough and bold. Yeah, maybe he looked reckless and irresponsible too, wearing that sorry excuse for a suit and goggles, but whatever. If Tony wants to find someone reckless, he just needs to take a look in the mirror, so who is he to decide if someone's irresponsible or not?

"Friday didn't give you more info?" Bruce asks interrupting Tony's train of thoughts.

"She's not really herself," the man shrugs again. Bruce quirks an eyebrow. Tony rolls his eyes. "She's been kinda electrocuted, but she's fine now. Mostly."

Bruce's mouth falls open. Okay, Banner will definitely demand the whole story later.

"System is already at 97 percent, Dr. Banner. Do not worry about me," Friday says.

Bruce just shakes his head and turns his full attention to Spiderman. He gets to work. He examines the gunshot wounds. "What the hell is that?" he asks in shock leaning closer to the injuries.

"Oh that," Tony steps closer. "That's his web. You know his only weapon and way of transport. You must have seen the videos, Bruce. He used his web to close the wounds. I guess he didn't have a band aid."

"Sure," Banner answers distracted still observing the web. "The bullets are still in, I can't see any exit wounds. He needs surgery. Until then it's better if we leave it like this, I don't want him to bleed out here. He's enhanced, right?"

"Yeah. No normal person could stick to a wall like him."

"But we don't know how enhanced he is. Which makes things complicated," Bruce muses. Then he straightens up and looks at Spiderman's head. "I'm sure he wants to keep his secret identity, but we need to remove the mask to treat him."

Now Tony steps even closer. This is the moment he's been waiting for a long time. The truth is about to come out.

But when he was brainstorming on finding a way to figure out Spiderman's identity, this was definitely not what he had in mind. He never wanted Spiderman to lie broken in front of him, unable to defend himself, unable to defend his secret identity. This is not how Tony wants to know who the guy is.

So in the last moment, when Bruce is already reaching for the dirty red mask, Tony decides to exit the room. At least until he can figure out his next step. Spiderman will need surgery, so he'll have a few hours to decide what to do next.

His hand is already on the door handle, when Bruce whispers behind him. "Oh my God."

Tony swallows hard. Spiderman's face must be more bruised than he thought. Tony saw him getting a few hits on the head, he might have a concussion, too.

"No way," Bruce mutters again.

This time Tony's curiosity takes the better of him and he hurries back to the bed. He peeks over Bruce's shoulder to see the superhero's face for himself. He staggers at the sight.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

Jesus. This is just a boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think :) Thank you for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here's the next chapter, Peter's back. Sort of. You'll see ;)  
> Thanks for the comments, kudos and bookmarks!  
> Enjoy & stay safe!  
> Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel. I wish.

When Peter comes to, he can't convince his eyelids to open. They feel so heavy. What happened? He honestly can't remember. His entire body hurts. His head? Feels like twice as its size. His limbs feel like concrete. And his side feels hot, which is really strange.

He must have been in a pretty bad fight. It happens. Injuries are not new to him. A break here, a bruise there. But now he's bad. Like never felt this bad. At least he's not dead and that's good. On his bad days, he would question that statement, but now he decides to put his depressive thoughts aside. He needs to know what happened. And where he is.

It's not cold, so he's not outside. Or in the warehouse.

Okay, so he's been injured and he's in a building. Hospital. No!

His eyes don't need encouragement anymore; they pop open right away and quickly adjust to the light. He takes a look around. His panic and a massive headache are having an epic battle to decide which one of them should be the number one problem for Peter. Panic is winning.

Because Peter is in a white room, he's lying in a hospital bed, he's not wearing his suit but some kind of shirt and sweatpants and there are machines around him. He. Is. At. The. Hospital. And his secret identity must have been revealed.

There's a reason why Peter never goes to the hospital, no matter how bad his injuries are. He's afraid that people would ask him questions. They would examine him and find out his secret. That he's not a normal human. That he's enhanced. And they would take him away and experiment on him with no end. No, Peter can't let that happen.

He has never told anyone about his secret identity, about his superhero alter ego. It would be nice to be the cool guy in school instead of the bullied boy, it would be great to be popular and admired, but it's not worth the risk of being thrown into a secret government lab or something. Maybe his imagination is a bit wild, but he just can't risk it. What's one more secret to keep anyway?

So he has to get out of here. Like now. Before someone realizes he's awake. He looks down at his arm where he has an IV. Inhaling sharply, he forces himself to pull it out. It's so gross. But he has to. Then he heaves himself up into a sitting position. It hurts. His side flares with a new level of hot white pain and he feels dizzy, his vision swims. He feels so weak. But there's no time for this, he has to go!

Pushing back the light blanket, he gently swings his feet off the bed. He remains sitting there and clutches the edge of the bed for a long moment to give the lightheadedness some time to go away. It doesn't want to. But it's slightly better now, so he pushes himself up to stand. His knees are shaking badly and he nearly falls back on the bed. Just nearly, though, he quickly grabs the headboard to steady himself.

He closes his eyes. Okay, dizziness, go away now! Please. He looks up. The window isn't that far. The door has never been an option, who knows what is out there? He would probably meet people there. But the window? He's really good at climbing out of windows. He has a better chance there.

Taking the few steps to the window is an agony, though. He thinks it would be easier to shoot a web at the window and swing there, but yeah. He looks down at his wrists. His web shooters are gone. Of course. Whoever found him and brought him here has his web shooters now. Along with his revealed secret identity. But he really doesn't have time to mull over that now.

His walk is painful and slow, and he always stays close to the wall in case he needs to steady himself again. And finally, he reaches the damned window. He's there. He clumsily opens it and breathes in the fresh air. Then he looks out. Okay, it would be better, if he was on the ground floor or something but he can do this, right? What is it, maybe the fifty-third floor? Piece of cake.

He climbs up on the ledge. He's shaking. He closes his eyes, takes a few deep breaths, in and out and that's it. He's good. Sort of. He's ready to start his descend, when suddenly strong hands grab his shoulders.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" a stern, male voice asks from behind.

Why didn't his spider sense warn him of the man coming in? It might have been off because of his injuries.

For a brief moment, Peter lets himself feel relieved that he doesn't have to crawl down feeling so weak and that he doesn't have to run anymore. He leans into the strange grip and it feels so nice to be able to stop this crazy, painful, pathetic escape attempt and to be held, supported. Which also helps with the shaking. But no. He has to leave. He has to get out of here ASAP.

So gritting his teeth, he tries to shake off the hands and push himself out of the window. But the grasp on his shoulders strengthens. "Ah-ah," the voice says firmly. "Not so fast."

But Peter doesn't give in. He desperately tries to pull himself free from the hold.

"You're safe, you hear me? You don't have to run," the voice speaks again. It's gentle this time, a soft whisper by his ear.

And for a reason Peter can't explain, he believes it. Maybe it's his weakened condition. Maybe it's exhaustion. Maybe he's just tired of always looking over his shoulder, keeping secrets, never feeling safe. Never being able to relax.

Maybe it's just easier to give in. He should fight; he knows that, he should try to get away. But he's just so damned tired!

So he lets the man help him down from the ledge and guide him back to the bed. God, he's so weak, if that man didn't support him, he'd collapse onto the floor. But he makes it back in one piece and lies down. It feels so good. As if he has just run a marathon or something.

The man is standing by his bed and Peter looks up at him through glassy eyes. Who is he? Should he recognize him? Has Peter met him before? He doesn't know. And his eyelids feel so heavy again.

The man starts walking up and down in the room while explaining something. Peter thinks he should listen to him, it must be important, but he doesn't understand a word. At least, he tries to follow him with his eyes, but even that seems more and more difficult. Why is it so hard to keep his eyes open? And why is he so cold? Is he back at the warehouse somehow?

The man at the end of his bed suddenly stops and stares at him. He doesn't talk anymore. Peter realizes the man expects him to speak. He must have asked a question. Peter doesn't know, all he can hear is the chattering of his teeth now.

"'M cold," he manages and he's surprised how raspy his voice sounds.

He closes his eyes for a long second and when he opens them again, the man is walking toward him with a blanket in his hands. He drapes it over Peter and it feels so good, so warm. He lets his eyes close again.

"Thanks," he whispers and instantly falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know there isn't much action in this chapter, but I loved writing it so much. Actually, this was one of the very first scenes I had in mind when I started working on this fic. This and the bank robbery two chapters before. I started the whole story because of those scenes popping up in my head. Let me know what you think and feel free to ask any questions :)  
> Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm back with a new chapter. This is what you've been waiting for: the first real conversation between Peter and Tony.  
> Thanks for the hits, comments and kudos.  
> Stay safe, stay home & read!  
> Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel. I wish.

When Peter wakes again, he feels a bit better. He still has a headache, but it's not so bad. It would be great to take some meds, though. Or a lot. After his first fights as Spiderman, he's learnt that normal medication doesn't work on him anymore. At least not at normal dosage. But he has never really wanted to start experimenting with pills and dosages, that would be a bit dangerous given he has no medical experience whatsoever, so he usually toughs it out until his injuries heal. And they heal fast, so it's okay. He can survive this headache, too.

And the pain in his side. He still doesn't know what causes that. Bruised ribs? No, that wouldn't hurt this bad. Plus, it hurts a bit lower than his ribs. Other than that, he's relatively okay. Just tired.

Where is he again? He remembers a white room, the hospital. He remembers feeling scared, terrified then something happened that calmed him down. Someone calmed him down. Someone who sounded reliable enough to convince him to stay here.

He opens his eyes and immediately notices a man sitting on a small couch in the corner of the room, holding a tablet in his hands. He's typing something, probably not realizing Peter is awake. Is he the same person who persuaded him to stay? Is he here to make sure Peter doesn't run away?

"Hello, Peter," the man says not looking up from his tablet. Okay, so he has noticed that Peter woke up.

The man's voice sounds very familiar. Peter's almost entirely certain that he was the one in the room before. And he looks so familiar, too. He has dark hair, a goatee and wears a white shirt, with sleeves rolled up. A suit jacket and a tie lie next to him on the couch. Peter doesn't really know adults wearing elegant, expensive-looking clothes like these. Then why does this man seem so damned familiar?

"Mr. Stark," he whispers as his sluggish brain finally provides the answer. "You're Tony Stark."

The man looks up and gives him a small smile. "Correct. How are you feeling, kid? Should I call a doctor?"

Peter is confused. Tony Stark is a billionaire, genius inventor and a superhero, Iron Man. Has saved the world too many times to count. His idol. How does he know Peter's name? Why does he care to know his name?

Mr. Stark puts away his tablet, gets up and walks to the bed. His hands are casually stuck into his pockets, but the look on his face seems concerned. And at the same time, interested.

"I'm good," the boy manages.

Mr. Stark snorts. "I bet. Do you remember what happened?"

Peter tries to recall any memories that might explain his injuries and how he got to the hospital, but he comes up with nothing. So he goes with the most logical explanation. "There was a fight."

There's silence, Mr. Stark is probably waiting for Peter to elaborate. But he can't. He can't remember anything. Is that the reason why he has a headache?

"Okay, let me help you out," Mr. Stark decides giving up on waiting. "Yes, there was a fight. It happened last night, at a bank in Queens. There were some wannabe bank robbers coming up with some kind of device that disabled my suit. And you came in swinging to save the day. Which you did. But you got shot in the process," he gestures at Peter's side.

The boy's hand automatically goes to his hurting side and fumbles over thick bandage. He can suddenly hear three gunshots. His side flares up with hot pain two times right after each other… He hits someone and he's being hit…. Purple lights fading under web... A red metal statue that looks like a robot. No, that's Iron Man's suit. But… it's not moving… Then it's open, empty... Mr. Stark is outside of the suit... A big man covered in blood and bruises lying at Peter's feet... Blood dripping through his suit… Shooting a web… Swinging away… A roof... Collapsing... Someone is beside him… Touching him. Waking him. Saying he's safe… That voice…

That was Mr. Stark. Mr. Stark was there, at the fight, he was there on the roof, he was here in this room, when he woke up earlier and he's here now. Why?

"I remember now," Peter mutters.

"Well, according to your doctor, Dr. Banner, you lost a lot of blood," the man explains." You needed surgery to remove two bullets. You hit your head, correction: you were hit on your head so hard that you have a concussion. And so many cuts and bruises that I can't remember the tenth of it."

"Wait, you said Dr. Banner? As in Doctor Bruce Banner? The genius scientist?" Peter interrupts.

"Yeah," Mr. Stark smiles. "Most people know him for turning into an angry green giant every now and then, but he'll be happy to hear that you care for his scientific work. But going back to you, kid. Good news is you're healing incredibly fast. Bruce can't stop admiring how quickly your body heals."

"Yeah, it's okay, I guess. But it also makes me tired and hungry all the time."

"You mean you need sleep and food to heal?"

"Like most people. But I heal faster, so I need more. Much more."

"No problem, kid. Feel free to sleep as much as you want. And you can eat tons. Whatever you want, just ask."

Peter looks down. It sounds good but no. As soon as he feels good enough, he'll leave. What does Mr. Stark think? That he'll stay here and let them experiment on him? Mr. Stark told he was safe. But safe from what? It's nice not being shot at anymore, but best would be going back to his place and going on with his life. He hopes that's still an option.

"You've never asked where you are," Mr. Stark speaks again. He's at the window now, casually staring out.

"At the hospital, I guess," the boy says looking around confused. He didn't ask because he knows the answer.

"You're at the Avengers Tower, kid. In the med bay of the tower, precisely," the man explains turning back to him.

Peter's mouth falls open and Mr. Stark grins.

That makes sense. Dr. Banner wouldn't treat Peter at a normal hospital. He just didn't connect the dots. He blames the concussion that he apparently has.

"I thought the hospital wouldn't have been a good idea," Mr. Stark clarifies. "I mean I'm not sure your secret identity could have remained a secret there. Just because I decided to go all transparent, I respect that others might choose differently."

Mr. Stark seems so nice. Peter has seen him a few times before, at press conferences and stuff like that on TV, and the man always looked like a super confident, intelligent, funny but egoistic man. Someone who believes he's smarter than everyone else. Someone who wouldn't care for a boy like him. But he apparently does.

And here goes Peter, being all ungrateful.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark," he says. "For helping me."

"Don't mention it, Peter," Mr. Stark waves him off. "You saved me first, when those bastards turned off my suit. But there's another thing you've never asked about, kid."

The man walks back to the couch and grabs something that Peter can't see. Then he turns back to the boy.

"You've never asked how I know your name, Peter Parker."

The boy lowers his head. He doesn't want to talk about his miserable life as Peter Parker. He wishes Mr. Stark asked him about his powers, his healing abilities, his spider sense, the webs, the bite, anything. Like superhero to superhero. But… not about Peter.

He sighs. "You have all the crazy tech here. I guess it wasn't hard to figure out who I am," he mutters.

"Yeah, but I went old school and just hacked your phone," Mr. Stark shrugs, not sounding guilty about it at all as he's holding up Peter's weary phone. He must have found it in the secret pocket of the suit. Mr. Stark takes a closer look at the battered phone as if he has just found it. "Probably took nearly as many hits as you did."

A flame of anger flashes in Peter's eyes. Yeah, Mr. Stark is a billionaire who can buy a new phone every second, but not everybody can do that. There are people who actually have to work a lot to earn money for a new phone.

But Mr. Stark misunderstands his anger. "You need to understand. You're a kid, Peter. I had to know if your family was waiting for you to come home."

Suddenly, Peter's anger turns into sadness. Of course he understands that Mr. Stark had to know who to notify. But there's no one waiting for Peter to come home. No one waiting for news on him. No one worrying about him. And he knows that. This is his life. For like five months now. He knows he can't change it. He knows he should accept it. But it still hurts every single time he thinks of it.

His eyes fill and he's not sure if he can stop the tears from falling. He quickly looks down. He won't let Mr. Stark see him cry. He should be tougher than that. Superheroes don't cry. Mr. Stark must be already disappointed that Spiderman is just a kid; Peter can't disappoint him even more with this childish crying.

Then he suddenly remembers that according to the official story, he does have family.

"It's okay, I just need to call my aunt. Julia," he murmurs still looking down. He doesn't trust himself to look up at Mr. Stark. Not when those traitorous tears are still there.

The man sighs. "Peter, I know your Aunt Julia doesn't exist."

That makes Peter look up. He doesn't care anymore if Mr. Stark notices his tears or not. But the boy is unable to speak. He's frozen.

Mr. Stark runs his hands through his hair and looks at Peter with concerned eyes. "I had to check. I mean I found documents stating that you live with your aunt, Julia and her family. I thought I needed to inform her about you. But I couldn't find her. I called her number. I sent her emails. Nothing. I even sent someone to check out her, correction, your address, but someone else lives there. So I searched for her in every known database. Until I realized she doesn't exist. She's made up. And I guess you made her up. Who else would have?"

Peter is still in shock. Not only because his secret has finally come out, but also because Tony Freaking Stark is the very first person who actually took an effort to check out his story! No one has ever cared enough to check the contact info Peter provided or to check if Julia is a real person at all. Okay, last night might have been an emergency, but there are people who should have done that without waiting for an emergency to happen, right?

"What's your deal, kid?" Mr. Stark asks observing Peter as if he's some kind of rare specimen. "I mean you're smart, your grades are amazing, you're practically a wunderkind. And while you're so great at school, you're a superhero by night. But what do you do when you're not at school or in your suit?"

"I work at a grocery store after school," Peter offers weakly.

Mr. Stark gives him a sad smile and steps closer. "I know you have no family, kid. Where do you live?"

"Queens," Peter shrugs looking away.

"I figured that much myself," the man snorts.

There's a long silence while Mr. Stark is obviously waiting for him to talk, but Peter remains silent. What does this man want from him? Up until last night, his life was simple. Not perfect, far from that, but it was only school, job at the store, being Spiderman and sleeping in the warehouse. No one asking questions. And yes, it's miserable to say the least, but it's his life. And he wants it back.

"You must be very disappointed that Spiderman is just a homeless kid!" Peter exclaims. He's so angry. He's angry because he has no family, no home, no people who care, not a safe place. It's so unfair! What has he done wrong? Why does he deserve this?

And he knows it's not Mr. Stark's fault, he has been only nice to him, much nicer than most people, but Peter doesn't care right now. He just wants to go back into his warehouse, curl into a ball on the old, filthy mattress and cry himself into sleep. Like basically every night.

"You're wrong, kid," Mr. Stark claims. "I'm not disappointed. On the contrary. I admire your strength. No matter how hard your life is, you're still the smartest kid at school and an amazing superhero."

But Mr. Stark doesn't know what he's talking about. Peter's anything but strong. Hell, he's not strong enough to fight back his tears or his anger! He's weak. He's pathetic. And he betrays everyone who praises Spiderman. If they knew who was under the mask, they would turn away disgusted.

"Please, go away, Mr. Stark," he mutters looking down again.

"Kid, are you sure-"

"Please, Mr. Stark."

Peter doesn't look up until he hears footsteps fading and the door closing.

Then he lets his tears fall free. Great. He's not only weak and pathetic. He can also add ungrateful to the list.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So is this something you expected? Or are you surprised? I hope so :)  
> Let me know what you think! Next time I'll be back with Tony's point of view. I think...  
> Thank you for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm back with a new chapter. It's a bit long, I hope you don't mind ;)  
> Anyway, here's Tony sharing his thoughts about the latest events. Enjoy!  
> Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel. I wish.

It's the middle of the night and Tony is still sitting on the couch in his living room, staring into darkness. He hasn't bothered turning on the lights; he doesn't really need them for what he's been doing for a few hours now. Thinking. Mulling over everything Peter told him and everything he knows about Spiderman.

What is Tony supposed to do?

He has absolutely no idea. There's only one thing he knows for sure: the kid doesn't want him to do anything. He doesn't even want Tony near him. Okay, that might sound as if Tony's a pouting child but it's true. And for a reason he can't understand, it kinda hurts.

He knows Peter is upset. And Tony can't blame him considering the horrible line of tragedies that happened to him. And he went through most of that all alone. That would have been way too much for any adult, let alone for a kid.

And it sounds very sad but Peter's used to being alone. He's probably in shock that someone knows about him now and he can't handle it.

Maybe. And honestly, Tony doesn't know if he can handle it. Gosh, what should he do? Should he call some kind of social worker? The police? Okay, that would be too much.

He rubs his eyes tiredly. He should sleep, he knows that but he couldn't before, so why try now?

Maybe he should call Pepper. Okay, not now but in the morning.

Or maybe he shouldn't. He exactly knows what Pepper would say anyway. That Tony needs to alert the authorities. CPS.

But if he did that, Peter would hate Tony for betraying him. There's a reason why the boy didn't want to go into foster care and decided to live on the streets instead.

However, Pepper would say Peter's not old enough to make a decision like that.

And Tony knows Pepper would be right. Still. Something tells him this wouldn't be the right thing to do.

It would be the easiest way to deal with the kid, sure and Tony could go on with his life convincing himself that he helped bringing in a kid from the streets in the middle of winter. Peter has a roof over his head and a bed to sleep in, so it's all good. Maybe the kid would hate him first but later he would realize Tony did him a favor. And Tony would never meet him again anyway, so who cares if the kid hates him?

But this is not what Peter would want and Tony should respect that. At least, he should listen to the kid's reasons for not asking for help. Maybe he didn't do it because he's Spiderman and he worried that he couldn't go on with the superhero stuff while living in a foster family.

But no. Tony remembers the dates on the documents he found. The date of May Parker's death. The appearance of Aunt Julia. All that stuff had happened before Spiderman first turned up. So Peter had decided to live on his own before he became Spiderman.

Geez, this whole stuff is so complicated! Why does Tony have to deal with this? This is so not what he signed up for when he decided to go after Spiderman!

Spiderman is a kid. It's crazy! He still can't believe it.

He's a kid and a kid shouldn't live on the streets all alone. He needs people who care for him.

So he obviously doesn't need Tony.

The man wishes he never wanted to find out who Spiderman was; he wishes he never met him. He wishes he could just go on with his life oblivious to the fact that there's a lonely kid out there in the cold. See? He's not good at caring.

But… why can't he sleep then?

~

Morning comes and Tony decides to pay Peter another visit. Maybe another conversation could help him figure out what to do. Or make things even more complicated. But Tony can't stop himself, he needs to see the kid again, he needs to know more about him and he needs to ask the tons of questions he couldn't ask last night. He hopes Peter will be okay with that.

The door to the kid's room is partially open and Tony can see him sitting on the bed, back against the headboard and scrolling on his phone uninterestedly. He must be damned bored.

Earlier, Friday told the man that Peter hadn't required anything special to eat. He told the nurse whatever food he got would be fine. Tony couldn't help rolling his eyes hearing that.

At least, the kid looks better now. Bruce said Peter had almost fully recovered, which impressed the scientist very much. He called Peter's healing ability incredible. The concussion and the bruises are gone; the gunshot wounds have almost entirely healed. The boy could use some more weight, though, Bruce added.

He's right. Kid looks too small on the hospital bed. Smaller than a boy at his age should be.

Even though the door is open, Tony knocks. "Morning, kid. Do you mind if I come in?"

Peter looks up and nods putting away his phone. Then he quickly lowers his head again. Tony hates that he can't see the boy's eyes. Why wouldn't he look at him? Is he still mad?

The man walks into the room and stops at the edge of the bed. He decides to get straight to the point like he always does. "Listen, Peter. I'm sorry about last night. I shouldn't have pushed you."

Peter suddenly looks up at him and his eyes go wide. "What? No, Mr. Stark, I am sorry! So sorry. I mean… you've been so nice to me. You brought me here, got Dr. Banner to help me and let me stay until I recover and I was rude to you. I-I had no right... I kicked you out from the room that you own. Where you let me stay. The way I behaved… I have no excuse, Mr. Stark, I'm sorry."

Tony smiles. He likes Peter's rambling. It's much more fun than their conversation last night. Kid's adorable.

Gosh, does he really think the kid is adorable? What's next, he's painting the Iron Man suit pink?

"What if we start over?" Tony offers. "Do you mind if I sit down?" he gestures to the couch.

Peter seems stunned again. He has probably never expected the man to actually ask for his permission. He nods dumbly.

Tony drops himself on the couch and smiles at the boy. "Okay, what if you tell me how you became Spiderman? If it's okay with you, that is."

He won't push the kid this time. No, they can take it slow. So that he'll get his answers and Peter won't be upset again. Win-win.

Plus, he has a feeling that it's easier for the kid to talk about Spiderman than about Peter Parker. That's what upset him earlier. Not Spiderman but the boy under the mask. Tony could try to tell him again that he's not disappointed (surprised? sure, even shocked but definitely not disappointed) but he guesses Peter wouldn't believe him.

It seems easier to talk about Spiderman. About the strong, fearless, cool guy and not about the lonely, scared, sad kid.

And it turns out, Tony's right. Peter talks and talks. About the spider that bit him and got him sick (Tony suspects there are a few details left out, though), about his powers, his strength, his stickiness, his healing factor. He tells how he made his suit, how he came up with the web shooters and how he makes web-fluid at school. He tells how he stopped bank robbers, muggers, bicycle thieves. On and on.

And Tony can't wipe the amused smile off his face.

~

They have cheeseburgers, fries and milkshake for lunch. Tony has ordered twice as much food for the kid than for himself because he remembers Peter needs to eat a lot to heal. And gosh, the kid eats fast! Peter demolishes his double-size lunch faster than any Avenger would. And damn, those guys can eat.

Tony wonders if the kid has always enough to eat. Probably not, he's so thin that getting enough food must be an endless struggle for him.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark," Peter says finishing his shake.

"Don't mention it, kid," the man smiles. "I hope you feel better."

"I do, thank you. I'm totally fine now. I think I'll leave, Mr. Stark. I mean I'm grateful for your help, I really am but… I need to go. I don't want to miss school. No longer than necessary."

"Don't worry about school, kid. Aunt Julia called them and told you had the flu," Tony winks.

Peter cracks a small smile. "Did she?"

"Well, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I mean I never thought it would be so hard to ask the AI I created myself to lie for me," Tony explains with mock frustration.

"I am not comfortable with providing false information to anyone, boss," Friday claims with a hint of resentment in her voice.

Peter looks around frantically trying to find the source of the voice.

"Kid, meet Friday, my AI. Friday, it's Peter," the man laughs. "Friday runs the Tower and acts as my usually helpful PA."

"Nice to meet you, Peter," Friday says kindly.

"Hello, Friday," the boy replies hesitantly, still trying to figure out where to look exactly while talking to the AI.

"Loyalty over honesty, that's all I'm saying, Fri," Tony continues grabbing his last fries. "And I mean loyalty to me. That's your job, girl, just leave the honesty to me, will you?"

"Of course, boss," Friday answers dutifully. Tony grins. He can almost hear an eye roll in the AI's voice.

"That explains why Ned asked me about sneezing and coughing," Peter says taking his phone from the bedside table. "Ned's my best friend," he quickly adds when Tony raises an eyebrow.

"I hope you didn't blow my cover story, kid," the man smirks. "Oh, and I meant to tell you that I'm giving you a new phone."

"You really don't have to, Mr. Stark. There's nothing wrong with this one," Peter protests holding up his phone.

"It might function but barely."

"I like this one, it's perfectly fine," the boy shrugs.

"Because the shattered screen reminds you of a spider web?" Tony laughs.

Peter gives him a mock pout and then smirks. Like a sassy teenager. The man grins back. When did they become so comfortable?

Tony realizes he likes spending time with the kid. Peter is smarter than most people he talks to; he's humble, kind and funny. It breaks Tony's heart when he remembers what horrors the kid went through. He totally didn't deserve any of that.

"Thank you, though," Peter says with a smile.

Tony realizes the kid is still talking about the phone. He nods nonchalantly. He decides not to push it. This strategy worked before, right? Maybe the kid would feel too uncomfortable if Tony gave him something more, a gift. Probably he's not used to getting help. Which makes Tony's heart wrench again, but he understands he can't overwhelm the kid either. Maybe later. Baby steps.

But there is something he needs to ask. Has to. Even if it could upset Peter again.

Tony groans and rubs his eyes. He hates ruining the positive atmosphere that they have built since morning. But he has no choice.

The boy must have noticed the sudden change in the air, because he quickly comes up with a question on his own before Tony could speak. "Don't you have somewhere to be, Mr. Stark? I mean I really appreciate that you're here with me, sir but I'm sure you're a very busy man with plenty of meetings and stuff."

The man grins. Kid has found a smart way to dodge whatever issue he thought Tony would bring up. And it's way more polite than asking him to leave like last night.

"This is where I want to be now, Peter," he assures the kid.

If it's possible, the boy looks happy and uncomfortable at the same time. Then he glances at the window, so Tony quickly gets up in case he needs to stop Peter from leaving again.

"Listen, kid, I know there are things you don't want to talk about, but we have to," he starts. Peter stares down at his hands as Tony continues. "Just… help me understand, alright? Why didn't you ask for help when Aunt May died? It might have been easier. I mean there's a good chance that they would have found you a foster home that is better than the streets. I know it wouldn't have been perfect; I get that, but the streets, kid! It's freaking January!"

"I don't sleep in an alley if that's what you think, Mr. Stark. I found an abandoned building," Peter all but mutters.

"Come on," Tony hisses. "Do you even hear yourself?"

The man knows he's walking on dangerous ground. He has promised himself to be careful and not to say anything that might upset Peter. He really doesn't want the kid to run away. He could tell Friday to lock the doors but he doesn't want it to come to that. He doesn't want a fight. He just wants to understand the motives of this kid. He's so smart, why on earth does he think that it's okay to be homeless when he has a chance for a better life? Yeah, some foster families might be creepy, but surely not all of them are that bad. Not that Peter would know, he has never even tried.

"Mr. Stark, I lost everything when May died," Peter starts with tears shimmering in his eyes. "Not just my only family but my home, too. My school and my friends are all I have now… What if they found me a family out of Queens or out of the city? I would have to leave behind the very last pieces of my old life, too. I just don't want that. I couldn't do that… I don't want any more changes."

Peter could have given it a try, though, right? Maybe they would have found him a nice family close enough to his school. On the other hand, after losing basically everything, the risk of having to leave must have looked way too big for the kid. And still, Tony asked him why he hadn't taken that risk.

The man remains speechless. All he wants to do is to literally bang his head against the wall. How could he be this stupid? This insensitive? Just last night he was thinking about how much this kid had lost, how hard his life was. Yet here he is now, asking Peter why he didn't want to risk losing more. Idiot!

Then another thought strikes him: he's so fucking bad at this. Dealing with emotions. Caring. What is the opposite of considerate? Because that's him. And he has made a poor kid cry. What is he supposed to do now?

He walks to the bed and sits down on the edge. He reaches out to grasp the kid on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, Peter. I should have known. I'm sorry."

Peter just nods while trying to swallow back his tears. This situation has obviously become awkward for both them. The boy doesn't want to cry in front of Tony and the man has absolutely no clue what to do with a sobbing child.

Then he has an idea. It's just a temporary solution and probably stupid, too, he knows that but at least it's something. "Hey, kid, listen. How does ice cream sound?"

Peter looks up at him and his red eyes go wide as if he couldn't quite believe what turn this painful conversation has suddenly taken. Tony gets it and snorts. It is really pathetic how he's attempting to comfort a sad kid. As if Peter's a toddler who's crying because he dropped his popsicle. As if they didn't talk about a bit more serious stuff than that, like losing family, living on the streets and foster care. Yeah, as if offering ice cream could be any consolation.

But to Tony's surprise, Peter gives him a small smile. "Yeah, ice cream sounds great, Mr. Stark."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! And thank you for the comments, bookmarks and kudos.  
> I would love to know what you think :)  
> In the next chapter: Peter is about to leave the Tower, but what will Tony do?


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, I'm back :) Here's a new chapter, I hope you'll love it.  
> Thanks for the comments, bookmarks and kudos.  
> Stay safe and enjoy!  
> Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel. I wish.

It's another sleepless night for Tony. Okay, he never really sleeps that much, but tonight he has a brand new reason for that. He doesn't know what to do with a juvenile superhero. And no matter how hard he tries, he just can't figure out what the best solution could be. Maybe because there is no such a thing like that at all.

If he calls the authorities, they might take away Peter who knows where. The kid would definitely hate Tony for betraying him and ignoring his decision to live by himself, but that's the least of the man's worries. If he believed this would be the best for the kid, he wouldn't hesitate to do it. Who cares if there's one more person in the world who hates him? Nothing new there.

But then Peter might never be able to go out as Spiderman again. Which would be bad, of course. But even worse, he might be put into a foster home that wouldn't make him happy. He might have to live with people who would make him feel miserable. He might even get depressed. And Tony doesn't want that on his conscience.

Then what? Should he just let Peter leave and go on with his lonely life on the streets? In the middle of winter? He might be enhanced and get along under dire circumstances, too but he's also just a kid. He needs more than a warm bed and food. He needs a loving, caring family, too.

Geez, could he expect Peter to make a mature decision in this situation? And speaking of mature decisions, could Tony come up with one?

Not for the first time tonight, the man knocks both of his fists to his forehead. Somebody just tell him what to do! Please!

~

Next morning, Tony is sipping his tenth coffee in a row, when Friday's voice breaks into his thoughts.

"Boss, Peter would like to know if you have a few minutes for him. He wishes to say goodbye before he leaves."

The man immediately jumps up. "What? Now? What time is it?"

"It's 6.28am. Peter says he wouldn't like to be late for school."

Of course he wouldn't. The little nerd with his excellent grades.

Tony hurries down to the med bay. He can't stop yawning despite the barrels of coffee he has drunk. He spent all night in his lab trying to distract himself with some upgrades on his suit. His thoughts kept going back to a certain minor superhero, though. Work was a real struggle last night.

In his room, Peter is already in his red and blue suit again and keeps fidgeting with the mask in his hands. He looks nervous, but his face lights up as soon as he notices Tony.

"Hello, Mr. Stark," he smiles. "I just want to thank you for everything you've done for me."

The man doesn't want to remind him that he has thanked him like a thousand times already. The boy obviously has way better manners than Tony.

"You're welcome, kid. You're leaving already?"

Tony can't help glancing at Peter's side where the incredibly fast healing gunshot wounds were. He can spot two holes in the suit and dark patches around them. He winces. Then he suddenly notices several other spots where the suit is torn or has a darker shade. Most of the splits are poorly sewn together. He knows they're reminders of the kid's old injuries and he suddenly feels sick.

But Peter doesn't notice that, he must be too eager to leave. "Yeah. Dr. Banner says I'm good to go," he announces cheerfully. "And I have to get back to school, so-"

"Just one more question, Peter," Tony holds up a hand.

The boy keeps looking at the window and doesn't seem very happy that the man is holding him back. But he must be too polite to say anything and just nods waiting for Tony to speak.

"You're not leaving through the window, kid," Tony says firmly.

"Actually, I was thinking of the roof, Mr. Stark, if you don't mind," the boy grins.

For a long moment, the man can't decide if the kid is joking or not. But it's not that he could just march through the lobby while wearing that suit, right?

Tony shrugs. "Okay, that actually makes sense. But that's not what I wanted to say. I just want to know who else knows you're Spiderman, kid."

"No one," Peter replies quickly, looking surprised as if the answer is obvious.

"Not even your friend at school?"

Peter laughs. "Ned would freak out if he knew."

"No shit. I wonder why," the man rolls his eyes.

"Is that all, Mr. Stark?" the boy asks looking really impatient now.

Tony groans. He knows Peter wants to leave because of the school, but he's not quite ready to let the kid go. Still, he gestures for the boy to follow him and they walk toward the roof.

"Okay, kid, I want you to know something before you leave. If you get injured, you will come here. If you are cold out there, you will come here. If you are exhausted, you will come here. If you are hungry, you will come here. Got it?"

Peter dutifully nods.

Tony sighs with his hand already on the handle of the door to the roof. He looks into the boy's eyes.

"Whenever you need help with whatever, you can always come here," he confirms once again and opens the door.

"Thanks, Mr. Stark!" Peter smiles and puts on his mask. Gosh, those goggles look ridiculous!

The kid suddenly starts running toward the ledge and in the next moment, he leaps over it.

Tony's heart stops. Did Peter really? Did he just jump off? How fast can he call his Iron Man suit?

He hurries to the ledge and leans over it. He can see the kid falling but then he shoots a web to a neighboring building and swings away. In mid-air, he turns back to Tony and waves at him.

The man could swear the kid's grinning under his stupid mask.

"You little shit," he murmurs and waves back smirking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spiderman returned to Queens, Tony remained in Manhattan and they both lived happily ever after. The End.  
> Just kidding, we're far from the end :) I mean I can continue if you're interested ;) Let me know.  
> Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm back! Thank you for the many lovely comments, they made me so happy. And here's your reward: a nice long chapter. Will Peter return to the Tower? Or will Tony pay him a visit in Queens? Will they ever meet again? Read the chapter to find out ;) I hope I have come up with something that none of you expected.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for the kudos, bookmarks, hits and comments and enjoy the story.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel. I wish.

Days pass without Spiderman ever checking in at the Tower. The days grow into weeks and still nothing. Tony regularly checks social media and knows the kid is out there patrolling, he's fine.

He's not surprised that Peter hasn't taken up on his offer. He's really not. But he can't help feeling a bit disappointed. And that does surprise him. Why should he care? He has told Peter to come by whenever he needs help and the fact that he hasn't come obviously means he doesn't need help. He doesn't need anything from Tony, not even a dinner. He rather sleeps wherever but here.

Sitting in his lab, the man slams his fist on the table frustrated. No, he's not hurt. He's not sad, either. He doesn't care!

Gosh, he's so confused, though! Before Spiderman came into his life, everything had been so easy. Uncomplicated. Emotional turmoil isn't new to him, no, but he could always deal with it somehow. But now? He's a wreck. And he doesn't even know why.

Since that dammed kid appeared in his life, he can't sleep. Okay, he could never really sleep through the night but now he hardly ever sleeps. He thought making amends with Peter after their first and very emotional conversation and offering him support would help him relax. He did what he could. He offered him his help. He doesn't really do that to anyone. It's not his fault that Peter has never accepted it. His conscience should be clear.

Except. He's the only one who knows who is under the red mask. Tony is the only one who knows it's just a kid. Without home or family. Without an adult to keep an eye on him, to care for him. Which means if something happens to Peter, it'll be on him.

And that means responsibility. A responsibility that Tony has never asked for.

He groans in frustration and this time he slams both of his fists on the table. Hard.

"Are you alright, boss?" comes Friday's concerned voice from the ceiling. "You heart rate seems elevated. Should I call Dr. Banner?"

"No, Fri, I'm good," the man assures her, running his hands through his hair.

He sighs. This kid will be the death of him. And he can't even blame Peter because it was Tony who went after the kid, who couldn't rest until he figured out Spiderman's identity. And where has that left him?

And he's been fool enough to fill up a cupboard in the kitchen with hot chocolate and candy bars, with stuff he thinks kids like. Even bought some extra boxes of ice cream. Well, he doesn't care anymore; he will eat all that stuff by himself!

"Boss, a new video of Spiderman has just been uploaded to several websites," Friday announces.

Tony looks up immediately. He has ordered Friday to alert him whenever she finds news on the superhero.

"Okay, Spiderman, what are you up to tonight?" he mutters and leans back in his chair, staring at the screen as the latest video starts streaming.

Apparently, two men attempted to rob a convenience store but as soon as they pulled out their guns to threaten the only employee behind the counter, Spiderman arrived and disarmed them with his webs. There were two customers in the store and one of them filmed the whole thing from behind a shelf. The old man at the cash register thanked the superhero who was busy with webbing up the bad guys.

"My pleasure, sir," Spiderman answered politely. "Anything to keep the neighborhood safe."

"Yeah, thanks, Spiderman! You're awesome!" the guy filming the whole scene yelled from his hiding spot.

Spiderman turned to him and gave him a little wave before leaving the store.

As the video ends, Tony decides to go back to the moment when Spiderman waved at the filming guy. He takes a closer look at the red and blue suit. He remembers holding and examining the very same suit while its owner was in surgery at the med bay and he also remembers observing it again when Peter was about to leave the Tower. Tony remembers how shocked he was when he realized Spiderman's suit was practically an onesie. Yes, Peter – unlike him – is enhanced, he's strong and everything and he doesn't need as much protection as a mere human like Tony. Peter doesn't need an Iron suit.

But he's not invincible either. He got shot in front of Tony's eyes. And the man still remembers the plenty of traces of old injuries on the kid's suit.

And then it hits him. If there's something, anything he can do to help Peter, this is it. The kid might need it more than a bed or a meal.

Tony orders Friday to start playing AC/DC, clasps his hands and smiles satisfied as he starts to work. Finally. After so many sleepless nights, he's back in his element.

~

The next day Tony pulls up in front of Peter's school. He asked Friday to find out when the bell rings and he's been on time. School's out and kids are storming out of the building. Geez, they're so loud!

Despite the mess in front of the school, he decides to get out of the car while waiting for Peter to show up. But a) his shiny new Audi has already received way too many curious looks and he hasn't even got out of the vehicle yet and b) if Tony meets the kid in public, he'll seriously risk his secret identity.

So he decides to leave instead and parks a few blocks away from the school. "Friday, let me know when you spot Peter."

"He has just left the school building with another student, boss."

"Are they coming this way?"

"The other boy is but Peter is heading north."

Tony quickly starts the car and let Friday navigate him to Peter. He can see the boy walking alone on the sidewalk. Battered backpack, hood on his head, earphones tucked in. Just like a regular teenager. The man shakes his head smirking. No one would ever guess this average boy walking down the street is the famous Spiderman.

He pulls up beside him, rolls down the window on the passenger side and leans over. Peter staggers back in shock and stares at him with bewildered eyes.

"Mr. St-Stark… what-what are you doing here?" he stammers and looks around quickly, obviously concerned who might see them.

"If I didn't know better, I would think you're embarrassed of me, Peter," Tony grins.

"Oh no, it's not that, Mr. Stark, it's just-" the boy jabbers.

"I know, kid, I know, I was joking." The man rolls his eyes. "Hop in. Before someone sees us," he winks.

This time, it's Peter who rolls his eyes but he obeys.

As he shuts his door, Tony drives off. "Finally. That was kinda creepy. Me picking up a kid from the street. God only knows what would have happened, if the paparazzi had seen that. Are you hungry? I am. I picked up some food on my way here," he says gesturing at a few paper bags on the backseat.

Peter automatically glances back but then turns to the man. "How did you find me?" he asks eyeing the man suspiciously.

The boy must remember Tony knows which school he goes to, they talked about it back at the Tower. But Tony didn't pick him up there; he met him on the street.

"Friday found you. She used satellites, no biggie," the man shrugs.

Peter's eyes go wide again, but he quickly regains composure and asks more questions. "What's happening, Mr. Stark? Where are we going?"

"How are you, kid?" Tony asks ignoring the boy's questions.

"I'm fine."

"School's good?"

The man knows Peter still excels at school. He might check his grades in the school's database every once in a while. But he figures adults always ask kids about school.

"Yeah, school's okay."

"Good."

Peter is still staring at Tony with wide eyes, probably wanting but not daring to ask him again about his plans. The man takes a pity on him and sighs. "Fine. I made something that I want to show you."

Earlier, Tony instructed Friday to look for an area that is remote enough to test his latest invention far from prying eyes. The AI offered a park just out of Queens. A few minutes later Tony pulls into an empty parking lot. The whole place looks deserted, as if no one has been here for at least a hundred years. It's not really a park anymore but more like the ruins of a park. With high grass, some fallen trees, half-destroyed benches and trash everywhere.

Tony looks around frowning. From the corner of his eye, he can see Peter is doing the same.

"Wow, that's creepy. Friday, is this the best you could find?

"You wanted a remote place, boss."

Tony glares. "And you're sure no one's here, right, girl?"

"Absolutely."

"Great. Let me know if you see someone anyway," the man orders and gets out of the car. He takes the bags from the backseat and starts walking toward a picnic table. The benches on both sides are broken. Tony doesn't mind, he hops up on the table and starts unpacking the bags. Just the usual stuff: cheeseburgers, fries and shakes. "Come on, Peter, dig in."

The kid hesitantly sits down beside Tony and takes the burger that the man offers to him.

Tony gives him a smile. "I know, kid, it looks very weird that I've brought you to this creepy place, but don't forget, you're enhanced and I'm not. And I don't have an Iron suit with me, I promise."

He's joking again of course, but the boy takes it seriously anyway.

"It's not that I'm worried about, sir," he says. "I just… I just don't understand what's going on."

"I'll let you know soon. First, let's eat."

Peter hesitates again, staring down at the burger in his hands, but when Tony starts eating, he follows suit. While they're eating, the man keeps asking questions about school and Spiderman, carefully avoiding topics that might bring up bad memories or could make the kid feel that he has to share something he doesn't want to. Like where he lives exactly or when the last time was when he had a proper meal. Because he's devouring his food at rapid speed. Tony has to stop himself from telling the kid to slow down before he chokes on the fries or something.

Finally, all food is gone and Peter looks at Tony expectantly. The man sighs and walks back to the car to grab another paper bag. He returns to the table and lays the bag on Peter's lap. The kid looks up at Tony, probably waiting for permission to actually open the bag. Gosh, Peter will kill him with his modesty and manners. The man groans. "Come on, kid, open it!"

Peter finally does and then pulls out something that suspiciously looks like… like a suit. Like a very, very upgraded version of his Spiderman suit. Holding it in his hands, Peter is in such awe that he is unable to speak. He just can't stop staring at the suit. He carefully lays it on his lap, slowly running his fingers on the special material as if it is the most precious thing he has ever touched.

"So what do you think?" Tony asks grinning, unable to wait for Peter to speak.

"Is this…?" the boy whispers, holding up the suit. He can't take his eyes off it, which Tony considers a good sign.

"This is your new suit, kid. It gives you much better protection than your old one. The material is tough but flexible. Protects you in combat and perfectly suitable for swinging around in the city."

"You made this for me?" Peter asks still stunned and looks at Tony with wide eyes. Then he carefully folds the suit.

"Why, do you know another superhero with a spider fetish? Why don't you try it on?"

The boy gazes at the red material in his lap again. "I can't accept it, Mr. Stark."

The man groans. "Seriously, kid? I've just made you a super cool, multimillion-dollar suit and I need to persuade you to take it? Okay, you have to accept it, kid because I don't know what to do with it otherwise. I mean I have my Iron suits, which are perfectly fine for me, thank you very much. I definitely won't parade around in the city in that," he claims pointing at the new suit.

Peter grins. Tony guesses the kid has just imagined him in the Spiderman suit. Yeah, that would be a really ridiculous sight.

"You really shouldn't have, Mr. Stark," the boy tries again, but Tony knows it's just the last weak attempt to reject the gift. He has already won.

"What can I say, kid?" he shrugs. "I couldn't sleep last night."

And a few nights before that, he adds to himself.

Peter finally gives him a smile and a few minutes later, he performs a perfect backflip on the table, wearing his brand new suit. "Yes!" he exclaims enthusiastically. "Mr. Stark, it smells like a new car in here!"

Tony laughs. And he can't stop laughing while he's watching Peter swinging around in the park. The kid cheerfully jumps and climbs and swings and flips. Like a circus acrobat on sugar high. The four shakes might have been too much.

After a while, Tony hops up on the table again and pulls out his phone. He might as well check his emails, while the kid is playing out there. He reads and answers several mails. He makes three conference calls. Talks to Pepper twice preparing for his next meetings. He analyses and solves a problem with one of the repulsors of an Iron suit.

And the kid is still out there swinging and cheering. Tony feels like a parent on the playground waiting for his kid to get tired of climbing frames.

He smiles. He has never given a gift that has made someone this happy. He's good then, right? He has helped the kid. He's given him protection. Peter will be good now. And Tony can finally sleep.

Suddenly, the kid lands in front of him in true Iron Man fashion, pulls back his mask and grins at Tony.

"Copycat," the man snorts. "So what do you say, kid? Will you keep it?"

~

That night, Tony decides to stay away from his lab. He'll just grab some food, watch a movie and go to bed. It's gonna be a nice evening. A calm one.

He had a really good afternoon with Peter. The kid thanked him for the suit like a thousand times and Tony made him promise to give an honest feedback. A few modifications and upgrades might be needed. The man reminded Peter that he regularly upgraded his own suits, too. Plus, something could go bust during a fight.

He told the kid to swing by the Tower whenever he needed to have the suit repaired or modified. Tony also told the boy that he could help him with the suit. And then he repeated his earlier offer about the bed and food. Peter nodded and promised to drop in. Tony couldn't decide if the kid was honest or just polite again. Whatever. It's not that he could make Peter visit. Tony did what he could. It's not up to him anymore.

And now he can settle on the couch with a pizza, pop up his legs on the coffee table and turn on the TV. "Hey, Friday, be a dear and check where's Peter right now. Just in case."

He won't do that all the time. He has promised himself he won't be like a creepy stalker. Peter knows he can always come here if he needs help. Putting a tracker in the suit has been really unnecessary. An overkill.

"Boss, it seems the tracker in Peter's suit has been disabled," Friday announces.

Tony lets the pizza slice fall back on the plate in his lap. For a few seconds, time seems frozen. What?! Seriously?

Then he shakes his head and laughs. "Wow, kid. That was fast."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do you think? Is it too much to ask for comments again? :) I would love to hear your theories about the story.  
> Anyway, I think we have spent quite a lot of time with Tony lately, so it's time to go back to Peter and find out what's his view on the latest events. Let's visit him in the next chapter.  
> Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here I am again with a new chapter. So sorry for the delay, I had a business trip. Which was really fun after months of home office. Anyway, in this chapter Peter is sharing his thoughts with us. His really, really chaotic thoughts. So this chapter will be mostly rambling, which is one of Peter’s talents, right?  
> By the way, some of you pointed out that he removed the tracker in his suit pretty fast in the previous chapter. He will also share his reasons, okay?  
> I hope you’ll love it. Enjoy!  
> Disclaimer: no, I don’t own Marvel. I wish.

It's the middle of the night and Peter is sitting on his mattress in the warehouse, his left arm stretched out, as he's trying to stitch a cut that he has just got during his latest patrol. He's nearly done but he's far from satisfied: the ugly zigzag is a clear proof that no matter how many times he has done it, he'll never be able to improve his stitching skills. Thanks to his healing ability, though, his wounds never scar. If they did, they would look horrible.

And this cut? It doesn't even hurt anymore. It's not that bad. Really. But worse is the suit probably has a cut, too. What should he do? Sew it? Can he do that? The fabric seems way too thick to pierce it through with his small needle.

Should he pay a visit to Mr. Stark then? He said Peter could come to the Tower if the suit needed to be fixed. But wouldn't Mr. Stark be disappointed that Peter damaged it only after like six days? Wouldn't Mr. Stark be mad that Peter ruined the suit that he had worked so hard on? Okay, it's not exactly ruined; it's not such a big cut but still.

And the suit is so awesome! No criminal mocks him anymore; they seem much more scared when Spiderman arrives to stop them. Peter doesn't know if he seems more intimidating because of the cool suit or because he feels much more confident wearing it. Probably both. Not that he had any problem with his old suit. He always knew it wasn't nearly as cool as the suit of any Avenger, but he thought it didn't really matter what he was wearing. The only thing that mattered was what he did as Spiderman: fighting crime, helping people. It wasn't important what he was wearing while he was doing that. His old suit had basically one job to do: to hide Peter's identity and it was capable of that.

But his new suit? Man, it's so cool! It looks amazing! And Mr. Stark has been right: it gives him better protection; Peter has far less injuries now. Just like Mr. Stark said: it's tough but flexible. Sometimes Peter swings around in the city in his new suit just for fun.

Anyway. The cut. He sighs and continues working on his wound. His thoughts keep taking him back to the Tower, though. He thinks about Mr. Stark's offer. Bed and food. He thinks about it all the time. He often decides to take it, just one night, just one dinner. And then he always changes his mind. Sometimes even at the very last moment.

Like two days ago. He was so hungry. Practically starving. And it had been raining for three days nonstop. Okay, the warehouse he stays in has a roof, but that roof has a lot of holes. Like plenty. And it was so cold…

So he came to a decision. He would drop in the Tower, he would accept Mr. Stark's offer and have a warm meal. Just this one time. A soup would have been really nice.

So he swung over to Manhattan; he could already see the bright lights of the Tower. Just a few more blocks.

But then… he stopped. He can't go there! What was he thinking? Mr. Stark is a very busy man. A superhero and a successful businessman. He attends meetings all day and works in his lab or saves the world all night. He has no time for Peter. Mr. Stark was very nice to him, yes, he helped him a lot but that offer? That offer was just a courtesy of a polite man. That was a good-mannered gesture. Nothing more. Like when people ask how you are but they don't really want to know, it's just a figure of speech. And he shouldn't think more of Mr. Stark's proposition.

Plus, he doesn't need help. Peter is a superhero on his own right. And superheroes don't go begging for food or a place to crash. Yes, he might have some problems right now but he manages. He's okay. He just needs to put a brave face on and tough out. He has done that so far. Why should he give up now? Winter is over, it's not even that cold anymore and who knows? Maybe by next winter he'll have a place to stay. He'll figure it out somehow.

Still. It would be nice to visit Mr. Stark. Maybe just for a talk. Because he's the only one who might understand Peter. No, he wouldn't. But at least, he understands Spiderman. Their conversations about superhero stuff were so awesome. The best that happened to him lately. He could forget about the miserable life of Peter Parker, he could forget about the lonely orphan kid and pretended that only the cool, strong Spiderman existed. Mr. Stark is the only one who knows about his alter ego, the only one Peter could talk to about that stuff. And it felt so liberating to discuss Spidey things.

And Spiderman has always trusted Mr. Stark. His spider sense never warned him whenever the man showed up. Not in the Tower when he first woke up and didn't know where he was and not in the street, when they met after school a few days ago. And that sense of his has always been right; it has always told him who he could trust.

So yeah. It would be good to talk. Even better than sleeping in a real bed or getting enough to eat.

But talking has never been on the table, right? Just accommodation, meal and repairs of the suit. Mr. Stark might not even be in the Tower if Peter dropped in. He must be on a business trip all the time.

Why would Mr. Stark care about him anyway? Why would he care about the miserable kid under the mask? No one does.

The boy can still remember the utter shock on the man's face when he figured out Peter was homeless.

He winces. The word still feels so weird. Odd. He knows it fits. He just can't get used to it. And he has a home, right? It might be an old, abandoned warehouse, way worse than his previous home was, he can't even compare the two but for now? This is his home.

He just feels so ashamed. He feels ashamed about what his life has become. He knows, yes, he does know it's not his fault. It's not his fault that Aunt May died, it's not his fault that he has no other living relative left and it's not his fault that he's still a kid who couldn't stay by himself in their apartment. None of this is his fault. He can't help feeling ashamed, though.

And yeah, maybe Mr. Stark doesn't care about Peter, but if he did? The boy wouldn't go to the Tower anyway. Because the man would look at him with pity in his eyes like all the adults do. And they don't even know the half of it. They feel sorry for Peter because he lost his aunt. They don't know how much more he lost. They don't know that he has no home or family anymore. Only Mr. Stark knows. If Peter went to the Tower, the man would surely take pity on him. And Peter doesn't need pity.

Anyway. Cut. Stitches. It's too dark and the needle is so small. He really doesn't want to stab himself more times than necessary. He might as well use the new mask. It might have some kind of function that could help. Because the suit has tons of functions. Peter believes he still hasn't found most of them since he first hacked it.

Unlike the tracker. When he first hacked the suit out of simple curiosity (it's so awesome, he just wanted to know everything about it), he was very surprised when he found a tracker. Why did Mr. Stark put a tracker into his suit? Did he want to keep track of Peter? Why was it important to him to know where Peter was? Or was it there only for emergencies? Anyway, he quickly decided to disable it. Before Mr. Stark could have found him here. Yeah, that would have been just nice. Mr. Stark appearing in this warehouse. He would have called CPS right away.

Actually, it's kinda surprising that he hasn't called them yet. At least, that's what Peter had thought until he figured out the reason. If Mr. Stark believes Peter can make it even under these sad circumstances, he definitely will.

Going back to the cut again. Right. The mask. Plenty of functions. Mr. Stark doesn't do anything halfway, right?

Peter has connected the suit to the battered computer that he built from parts from his old room and stuff he found in dumpsters. It's perfectly fine to go through all the settings and protocols of the suit. It still amazes Peter how much time and effort Mr. Stark put into it. Into the suit for him. The boy can't understand why Mr. Stark did it. And he didn't ask Peter for anything in exchange. Probably he will. Mr. Stark must have some kind of ulterior motive, right? He seems really nice; he has been always very kind to Peter but the suit? It's too much for a gift.

Of course Peter is very grateful. The suit is awesome. Has made his life so much easier. And not just the crime fighting part. When he discovered the heater in the suit... Gosh, one of the best days of his life.

Peter puts on the mask and tries to find a way to make the rest of the stitching easier. Maybe some more light? Still stunned, he goes through the many functions, aimlessly trying out settings he has absolutely no idea about, when suddenly a female voice breaks into his thoughts.

"Hello, Peter. How may I help you?"

~

When Peter thought there was no cooler thing in the world than his new suit, he was wrong. So wrong! Because obviously, there's no cooler thing in the world than his new suit with his personal AI in it!

His life has dramatically changed since he accidentally discovered Karen. Yes, the suit Mr. Stark gave him made his patrolling way more effective, but Karen has brought it to a whole new level. She has helped him find his way around the many settings of the suit (even though they still have some arguments about choosing the most suitable ones) and she's provided him tons of information to stop criminals. Like camera feeds, police reports, access to practically every known database in the world. She's like an awesome sidekick who can always help out Spiderman.

And sometimes she can also help Peter. Like when she helps him with his homework. (That's not cheating, right?) But she helps the most when she's the only one Peter can talk to.

He knows it's pathetic. Karen is not a real person, she's just an AI; she hadn't even had a name until Peter gave her one. And Karen cares about him only because it's her job. That's how Mr. Stark programmed her. She's not real.

Yet sometimes she sounds very real with all the hovering. Like a parent.

"Peter, may I suggest going to sleep now? You have to get up early for school tomorrow," Karen says while Peter's sitting in a broken window of the warehouse after patrolling.

He's staring at the black sky numbly. He needs some time until the adrenaline from patrol runs off. He had a busy night with stopping muggers and drug dealers. And two of those dealers were lurking around Peter's school, so he was extra mad at them. What if they approached some kids from school?

"I know, Karen, thanks," he sighs. "I just don't think I could fall asleep now."

"And why is that, Peter, if I may ask?" the AI probes.

The boy smiles. Whenever he uses one of the amazing features of the suit, he always thinks of Mr. Stark fondly. And he does the same whenever his AI is this nice to him. Because Mr. Stark has made Karen not just functional and efficient but kind, too. Yeah, he still remembers she's not a real person. But she's very kind for someone who is not real.

"You know, Karen, today is Aunt May's birthday," Peter explains sadly.

Yeah, that's the real reason why he can't sleep just yet. Not the adrenaline rush. But he has tried his best all day not to think of it. Not to think how they would celebrate if May was still here. Just the two of them. They would go out for Thai. And that waiter who had a crush on May would bring her a dessert on the house. And then they would go home and watch a movie or two. It would be a really nice evening. Just May and him.

Instead here he is, sitting in a creepy old warehouse always hungry and exhausted and what's even worse, always on the verge of tears. He's getting tired of this. Of how shitty his life is. He honestly doesn't know what he would do if he didn't have Spiderman as an occasional getaway from this misery.

And all because someone was careless and stupid and hit May. They made a mistake that cost a life. And they got away with it. They just drove off never looking back. Never trying to help. Never seeing what damage they caused. That they actually killed someone. They took away a kid's only family. Made him an orphan. Ruined his life forever. Here is Peter alone, cold, hungry and devastated, while they can go on with their happy lives forgetting what harm they did. Took a life and ruined another one.

Peter's sadness turns into anger. He lets out a frustrated cry and punches the window. The glass instantly shatters and plenty of tiny shards scatter the ground, glistening in the moonlight. The sharp edges around the new hole in the window are stained red. Stunned, Peter stares at the ruby-colored glass and then glances down at his hand. Connecting the dots takes longer than usual. Weird.

"Peter, the cuts on your hand require medical attention. They should be examined if there are glass shards in them and then properly dressed," Karen informs him.

The boy sighs. He gets up and unenthusiastically grabs his medical kit from beside the mattress. He sits down, pulls out some bandage and haphazardly dresses the cuts.

"Peter, that's not good enough," his AI complains. "May I suggest calling Mr. Stark for help-"

"And may I suggest searching for the police report on May's death?" Peter all but snaps.

Gosh, it's so frustrating that Karen keeps offering to call Mr. Stark, whenever some kind of problem arises! As if he couldn't handle some little cuts by himself. This is obviously Mr. Stark's doing, he programmed the AI like this. But Peter doesn't need help!

"As you wish, Peter," Karen replies willingly, though.

The boy flops down on the mattress, glancing up at the dirty ceiling, at the abstract pattern of wet spots. He hits his forehead with his fists. "I'm sorry, Karen. So sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. It was rude," he mutters.

"It's okay, Peter. I have found the police report for you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does this count as a cliffhanger?  
> I hope now you can see how confused poor Peter is. How his genuine optimism and pure heart are fighting with his negative, depressive thoughts and all the bad things that happened to him.  
> And yeah. Next, we’re going to look into May’s death. We’re staying with Peter for now to see what he’s going to do next. Will he meet Mr. Stark again? I would love to hear your theories! And I would love to know if this story is going into a direction you expected. I hope not, I would love to surprise you :)  
> So yes, this is me begging for comments. Please. I love reading them, so so much.  
> Thank you for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello! Here's the new chapter. We're still with Peter to see what he has found out about Aunt May's death.   
> Thanks for the kudos, bookmarks and comments, you're very kind!  
> Enjoy!  
> Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel. I wish.

Peter is sitting on the roof of an office building in Lower Manhattan. There's a fancy and very expensive restaurant on the opposite side of street and black limousines keep pulling up, bringing new, elegantly dressed guests.

The boy ignores the unimaginably huge gap between his life and the lives of these people. Ignores how much money they must pay for their dinner here. How much money they must have paid just for their shoes. Money that he has never had and probably never will.

He also ignores how different their homes must be from his dark corner back in the warehouse.

Because it's not why he is here now. To observe crazy rich people and hate them just because they don't have problems like him. No, he's here to observe only one of them. Yes, Peter is on a stakeout and he has eyes only for one guy: Hal Wentworth.

The twenty-something man arrived alone about an hour ago, he has a meeting with some business partners in the restaurant. Peter saw him enter the building and through the window, he can see him now with four other guys at a table. Drinking wine and eating lobster. Probably discussing business.

Wentworth must be telling a funny story now, because everyone at the table is laughing.

Here he is. The guy who killed May just a few months ago. Hit her and never looked back to check if she was still alive, let alone to try to help. Here he is now, light-heartedly joking around like someone who doesn't have anything to worry about. And thing is, he really doesn't.

Peter never read the police report before. They never really told him anything, he's just a kid after all. They didn't give him any details about the accident. And truth is, Peter never really cared. He was way too sad to care about it; the painful feeling of loss filled up all of his thoughts. He only knew that the driver had left and there had been no trace of them. There was nothing he could do about it. Until now.

Peter read the police report that Karen had found about two hours ago and it made him sick.

He remembers when he made up his story about Aunt Julia and everyone believed it without a doubt, it made him disgusted at the system. It made him disgusted that adults who were supposed to be responsible for his wellbeing, let him slip out of the system because they never took an effort to check the facts. He remembers he thought the system was rotten.

But this? This is a new low.

When Aunt May was hit, there were only a handful of people in the street, just very few witnesses. They couldn't really provide any useful lead for the police about the car that hit her or about the driver. Partial license plates. Unreliable descriptions. Mere details. Nothing valuable to work with.

But there was an ATM on the corner and they could use its camera feed. And that feed did show the car, the license plate, everything. It was a black sports car, worth more than the apartment Peter used to live in. The police could identify the driver. They could find the person who had killed May.

And the car belonged to Hal Wentworth. Only son of business mogul Carlisle Wentworth.

But when the police arrived to question him, it turned out that the car had been stolen on the day before the accident. Later, the police found the vehicle burnt out in an abandoned area out of the city. They couldn't figure out who had stolen it. It was a very expensive car, that must have been the reason why it had been stolen, but when the thief made the mistake to hit someone, they had to get rid of it.

At least, that's what the police said. They couldn't do anything. Case closed.

But Peter decided to dig deeper. He was way too deep in his sorrow and anger and couldn't let go just yet. He hadn't look into the case before and now that he did, he just couldn't move on.

And surprisingly, he cracked the case in a few minutes. And what he found? That's what made him sick.

First, he checked out Hal Wentworth. Officially, the man wasn't responsible for his aunt's death, but Peter wanted to know more about the guy who owned the car that killed May. He checked Wentworth's social media accounts, focusing on the day of the hit. There was nothing. Nothing for several days. The guy might have been affected by the events after all.

But then Peter found a photo. It was a selfie taken by one of Wentworth's friends and he was also there, tagged in the photo. It was taken on the day of the accident. A group of friends looking happy, in front of a park in Manhattan. Nothing interesting. Except for the car the people were leaning on. It was Wentworth's car.

Which means the guy still had the car on that day. It hadn't been stolen on the day before, as it was stated in the police report. Wentworth had it. It must have been him who hit May after all. He was the one who killed her and left.

He must have panicked. Or maybe not. He might have remained deadly calm. Guys like him? Sons of extremely rich people? Spoiled brats? Probably it wasn't his first mistake. Maybe not even his biggest one. He might have known immediately what to do or who to call to clean up his mess. Maybe daddy dearest. Rich people can get away with anything. Money can buy immunity. Money can buy the cooperation of authorities. Money can put them above the law.

Because when Peter asked Karen to look into the police file that reported Wentworth's car stolen, she found that it had been tampered with. Dated back a day.

Wentworth or his father fabricated the story about the car theft. They might have told one of their goons to get rid of the vehicle. Then they bribed someone at the police to forge the report. They might have bought several people to go silent and do nothing about this.

That's it. Case really closed. It was just a nurse who died, who cares? Absolutely no reason to ruin Wentworth's life, right? May wasn't worth that much.

When Peter realized what had happened, he couldn't stop yelling and punching the walls for several minutes. He ignored his bleeding knuckles. He ignored Karen's first composed, then more and more concerned voice trying to calm him down, saying he could seriously hurt himself. He ignored when Karen once again offered to call Mr. Stark.

And finally, he collapsed to the ground, propped his elbows on his knees, lowered his head into his hands and sobbed. The pain of losing May, losing his old life, losing everything and being utterly alone hit him with a new force.

And once again, the pain turned into anger. To fury. He wiped off his tears, took a few deep breaths, got up and leaped out of the window.

He asked Karen to track down Hal Wentworth. Maybe the guy thought he could get away with this, but gosh, he was so wrong. If he thought he could just kill someone, orphan a kid and live his life as if nothing happened, he was seriously mistaken.

Tonight he's going to face with the damage he's done. And he's going to pay.

So that's the reason why Peter is currently sitting patiently across the fancy restaurant, waiting for Wentworth to finish his late business dinner and leave. Because Peter wants him alone when he confronts him. He doesn't want anyone to witness what he is about to do.

"Peter, are you sure this is a good idea?" his AI asks concerned. "It's getting really late now."

"This is the right thing to do, Karen," the boy firmly replies.

Who cares if it's late? Who cares if he has school tomorrow? School is literally the last thing on his mind right now. Because now he has eyes only for the man behind that restaurant window. The carefree man in elegant suit, telling yet another joke, making his guests laugh again. The man who killed his aunt and ruined his life for good.

About half an hour passes and Wentworth finally leaves. The valet brings his car –a brand new sports car, green this time – and he gets in.

Peter pulls down his mask.

Spiderman gets into action and follows the car throughout the streets of Manhattan, swinging discreetly above the traffic. Wentworth is heading home, Spiderman guesses knowing his address now. Which is perfect. Because there's a side street he needs to drive through to get home. A side street with minimal traffic, probably none this late. It'll be perfect to stop and confront him far from prying eyes. Just like he planned.

And when Wentworth does turn into that street, Spiderman jumps and lands hard on the roof of his car.

Wentworth hits the brakes immediately and the car stops with screeching tires in the middle of the street. The man leans forward, peeking through the windscreen, trying to figure out what has happened.

Spiderman causally flips to the ground beside the car. He waits for a moment until Wentworth's eyes find him. Is the guy scared? Or just confused? No, there's a hint of panic in his eyes. Good. Does he already know why Spiderman is here?

The superhero reaches forward and with one swift motion, he rips off the door of the car.

Spiderman's breathing heavily.

There he is. The man who took everything from him. Who is responsible for all the shit that happened to him. Who made him an orphan.

He is face to face now with May's killer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG, what is he going to do now? And where the hell is Tony? Let's visit him in the next chapter, shall we?  
> Thank you for reading and comment, please?


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends! I guess everyone wants to know what Spiderman is going to do, but let’s visit Tony first, shall we? Here comes the new chapter featuring another popular Avenger. I hope you’ll like it.  
> As always, I’d like to thank you all for the comments, kudos and bookmarks.  
> Disclaimer: no, I don’t own Marvel. I wish.

Tony enters the kitchen, turns on the coffee maker, sits down by the table and props his head in his hands. He's staring at the machine furiously as if he could make it work faster with his severe look. No such luck though, his coffee is not ready yet. He groans irritated.

"Friday, remind me to invent a superfast coffee maker later tonight. Something that brews coffee under three seconds."

"Certainly, boss," the AI replies keenly, but Tony swears he can hear a grin in her voice.

"Do not mock me, girl, will ya?"

"Would never, boss," Friday answers and the man rolls his eyes. She is mocking him.

The elevator doors open and Bruce Banner walks in. "Rough day?" he asks, taking a look at his friend at the table. He steps to the refrigerator and pulls out a water bottle.

"By all means, be my guest," Tony frowns waving at him. He knows by now he should be used to this, used to that everyone walks around in his living area like it's the common room.

"Sorry," Bruce says sheepishly and settles at the table. "I heard that you'd come back and just want to know how Boston was."

Tony sighs. "Like any business meeting. Boring."

The coffee is finally ready and he all but shoots up to pour the freshly brewed, aromatic drink into his mug and when he sits back to the table, he looks more relaxed already. "I should probably retreat into my lab and tinker something. Much more fun than any conference room."

"Barton says he would be happy to get some new gear from you," Bruce remarks grinning.

"I bet. I just don't know if he deserves any original Stark design," Tony snorts.

"Like Spiderman does?" the scientist lifts an eyebrow.

Tony doesn't answer.

So Bruce noticed Spiderman's new outfit and correctly guessed Tony had made it for him.

For the kid who he let go with that brand new suit and who he has never heard from ever since. No, he's not disappointed. He's just surprised, right?

Okay, who is he kidding? Of course he's disappointed. The kid has never popped in at the Tower, even though Tony offered him twice. And he barely invites anyone to the Tower. Ever.

Yet he did invite that annoyingly twitchy kid who can't stop jumping around and never shuts up about his Spidey things but for what? It's been totally pointless.

"What about Peter by the way?" Bruce asks.

Tony rubs his eyes frustrated. "What do you mean?"

"Where is he?"

"I don't know. I guess he's swinging around in Queens, stopping bike thieves and rescuing stray cats," Tony shrugs, hoping his friend can't hear the disappointment in his voice.

The scientist sighs. "Tony, don't you think you should have called the authorities? He's what? Fifteen? And he's out there on the streets all by himself."

"Don't forget he's not a regular kid, Bruce. He's Spiderman," Tony reminds him, knowing his argument is pathetically weak.

Unsurprisingly, it can't convince Bruce.

"Still, he's just a kid!" he heatedly points out. "He might survive on the streets, yes, but his life should be about more than surviving, don't you think? A child needs more than just a place to stay and enough food to eat. And he doesn't even have any of those. I mean you saw him, Tony, he's malnourished! Oh, and let's not forget that he regularly gets injured. I know he's healing factor is incredible, but it doesn't mean that it's okay to get wounded on a daily basis!"

Okay, Bruce seems really upset now. He doesn't really talk this much or get this agitated. It's obviously not the first time that he doesn't agree with Tony, but he is usually much calmer when he expresses his opinion. Yes, he always brings up reasonable arguments – like now – but he formulates them way less intensely.

Not that Tony could blame him. Because he knows Banner is right. He knows the kid needs family, needs a home and suit or no suit, it's not right to leave him out there to his own devices. But-

"Have you told Pepper about him?" Bruce's voice breaks through his thoughts.

"No." Tony lowers his head like he's some kind of misbehaving child expecting to be rightfully scolded.

He hates this. He should be able to come up with some kind of unquestionable defense, right? Tony Stark is always ready to prove he's right in his charismatic, captivating way that leaves absolutely no room for argument. He's always the super confident, self-satisfied one. Why isn't he now?

"And why haven't you told Pepper?" Bruce asks again and instead of waiting for a response, he answers his question himself. "Tony, we both know you haven't told her because you exactly know what she would say. And you wouldn't like her opinion," the scientist explains tiredly.

Tony rolls his eyes. Why does Banner always have to be right tonight? Why can he see right through him?

"I don't wanna call CPS on him, okay?" he finally snaps. "They would probably put him into a shitty foster home. Yes, there's a slight chance they might find him some loving, pitch perfect family that usually exists only in the movies, but who can guarantee that? And who knows what would happen to the Spiderman thing then? I can't let them take that away from him! I know if someone wanted to take Iron Man from me, I'd go crazy. Kid probably wouldn't handle it well, either."

Bruce shakes his head. "Fine. You don't want to bring in the authorities. I get that. But then what's your plan, Tony? Like I said you can't just leave him out there. That cannot be an option!"

"He knows he can always come here if he needs help. I told him. Twice," Tony shrugs. But again, he knows it's a weak argument.

And his friend doesn't hesitate to point it out. "Has he ever come?"

Tony shakes his head defeated, staring at his coffee mug. Then he glances up and throws in his final argument. "I did make him a suit to keep him safe, though," he frowns, knowing exactly it's not a good enough point, either.

Bruce sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Geez, Tony. What if something happens to him again and you won't be there to help?"

Tony groans frustrated and slams his fist on the table hard. "Why is this damned kid my responsibility? It's not up to me if he wants to go out there like a freaking wannabe superhero!"

"I know responsibility is your least favorite word, Tony, but I don't think you can run away from this now," Bruce smiles sadly.

"What are you saying, Banner?" Tony asks irritated, shifting uncomfortably on his chair. He so doesn't like where this conversation is going. "I won't call CPS. I won't do that to him."

That would feel like betrayal. The kid clearly told him he didn't want that. Of course Tony can't expect Peter to make a mature decision on the matter. But then again, can Tony be expected to make one?

"Okay, fine. Don't do that," Bruce nods, raising his hands in surrender.

Why does he suddenly seem okay with this? This must be some kind of trap.

"I agree that it would be really hard to find a proper family for Peter. A family that makes him happy and tolerates or even supports his spider activities," Bruce explains. "There can't be many families like that."

"Agreed," Tony nods, eyeing his friend suspiciously. He's still so confused. Where exactly are they going here?

"But," Banner continues.

Tony closes his eyes. Okay, here comes the truth. Why does he have a feeling that he won't like it?

"But he can't stay on the streets by himself either. No matter how amazing suit he has," the scientist claims. He looks at Tony expectantly.

Yeah, this is definitely a trap. And Tony doesn't know how to get out of it. He guesses there is a correct answer, some magic words that his friend wants him to say, but he honestly can't figure it out. Or he doesn't want to.

"I agree," he starts carefully, „that Peter's life circumstances are not entirely ideal."

Bruce is still staring at him, obviously waiting for Tony to go on, but he remains stubbornly silent, leaning back on his chair and folding his arms.

The scientist lowers his head and places both of his hands on the table. He takes a deep breath and glances up at Tony. "Do you really want me to say it out loud? You exactly know, Tony what's the right thing to do here."

The man tilts his head and gives Bruce a daring look.

No, he won't say it. Because that would make it real. Of course he knows what the right thing to do is. He fucking knows! He has known from the moment when he figured out Peter's situation. He knows what the most obvious solution would be.

But. He's Tony Stark. He doesn't do family. Or loving home. He grew up in a dysfunctional family, so what could he know about a loving one? He grew up with a messed up father, so how could he know how to ensure a happy childhood? He knows absolutely nothing about kids or family!

He gave Peter the only kind of protection he could provide: a high-tech suit. That's the only protection Tony is capable of. He might want to give him more, but God knows he can't. He just can't.

His earlier daring look turns into something like… resignation. He gives Bruce a sad smile.

"I offered the kid a place to crash. But like you said, he needs more than a bed and food. Kid deserves so much more than that. He has already lost too much. He's gone through things no one should at his age. And what he needs… stuff I can't give him."

Banner leans closer. "Tony, don't sell yourself short. I know you like to make people believe you're an arrogant jerk and frankly, yes, you are. But you're also a good man. And Peter trusts you."

"I'm not so sure about that," he snorts, trying not to sound hurt.

"Tony-" Bruce starts but he can't finish.

Friday's voice breaks into their conversation.

"Sorry to interrupt, boss, but I was instructed to follow Spiderman's activity on the Internet. There's a post claiming he's in Manhattan."

"Here? What is he doing here?" Tony asks, furrowing his brow. "Is he coming here?"

That would be an interesting timing to say the least.

"Based on the posted photos, he didn't come anywhere near, boss. He was heading south from the Tower."

"What the hell is he doing now?" Tony shudders. The he quickly gets up and pats Bruce's shoulder on his way out of the kitchen. "Nice talk, buddy. Raincheck? I have a spider to catch up with."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, we’re nearly at the moment when the previous chapter ended. Now we just need to bring these two together again. Or not. You’ll see in the next chapter :)  
> Thank you for reading!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm back! And here's a nice chapter for you. Will Tony find Peter? What is going on with the kid anyway? Read and enjoy!  
> As always, I’d like to thank you all for the comments, kudos and bookmarks.  
> Disclaimer: no, I don’t own Marvel. I wish.

"Talk to me, Fri. What is the little spider up to this far from Queens?" Tony asks as soon as he enters his lab.

He immediately regrets that he didn't do anything when he discovered Peter had disabled the tracker in his suit. What did he do then? Right, he laughed. He just fucking laughed and he was absolutely okay with the fact that he didn't know where Peter was. He would love to go back to Bruce now and throw this shameful fact into his face, proving how ridiculous is what he implied. He is the least suitable person to take care of this kid.

But right now he has bigger problems. The photos the AI mentioned appear on a big screen in the middle of the room. Next to them, he can see the exact location of the photos on a map. On another screen, the route Friday has predicted based on the photos. Peter clearly had no intention to come to the Tower.

"Call him," Tony orders. Unsurprisingly, Peter's phone is off. Tony has a bad feeling about this. He can feel it in his stomach. "Don't stop calling, Fri."

The man starts pacing up and down in front of the screens.

"Where is he now? Find him, girl. Check every camera available. ATMs, security cameras, everything. Social media. You know the drill."

He hops onto a stool and runs his hands through his hair, impatiently waiting for the results.

And out of the sudden, there he is. Spiderman is on the roof of some kind of office building. Friday has found a red and blue blur on a security camera feed and as she zooms in, it's clear that it's the superhero they have been looking for.

"Good girl," Tony praises her AI absentmindedly, then gets up and walks closer to the screen, trying to find out what Spiderman is up to. The superhero is not moving, he's just staring at something or someone across the street.

"It looks like he's on a stakeout or something. Where is he exactly, Friday? And what is he looking at?"

This time the AI shows the feed of an ATM that gives a fuzzy, black and white footage of the other side of the street. It's a restaurant. A new, popular one, Tony was there with Pepper a few days ago. Their steak is to die for.

"He must be after someone in the restaurant," the man states. "Can you tell me who is there right now?"

Without a word, Friday connects to the cameras inside the restaurant and runs facial recognition on every guest. Even on the waiters. Instantly, a list appears in front of Tony. The guests are mostly CEOs and CFOs, celebrities and socialites.

"Is there any connection between any of them and Peter?" he frowns. "These are not the kind of people he meets at school. Or in Queens."

"No connection I can detect, boss," Friday admits.

In the next minute, there's movement on the ledge where Spiderman is staying. He slowly launches to his feet. Tony's gaze flickers back to the other screen showing the restaurant. A man gets up from one of the tables and says goodbye to the people he had dinner with.

"Who's that guy, Fri?"

"It's Hal Wentworth, CFO of Wentworth Enterprises. Son of Carlisle Wentworth."

Tony has heard of the company. The CEO, Carlisle Wentworth is a selfish dick; Tony bumped into him at several parties and has never been a fan of the guy and his ego that might be even bigger than Tony's own. Tony might have even met his son but he can't recall it.

"What does he have to do with Peter? What can you find on this guy? Anything illegal? Check the police database."

Probably, this whole thing is about Spiderman and not about Peter. Maybe it's about some kind of criminal activity that Spiderman has stumbled upon while patrolling. Why did Tony ever think it was about Peter? Stupid instincts.

"There's only one police file I could find, boss, it's a report on Mr. Wentworth's stolen car."

Car theft. It is a Spiderman thing.

"Care to elaborate?" Tony sulks.

The AI remains silent. Strange.

"Friday?" Tony quirks an eyebrow.

"Boss, I have just found out that this was the car that hit May Parker. It had been reported stolen the day before."

Tony sighs. There goes his theory about Spiderman outsourcing his crime fighting business into Manhattan. It's about Peter Parker after all. But what does the kid want from the owner of that car if it was stolen before the hit? Hal Wentworth has nothing to do with that tragedy. And most of all: how does Peter know about all this?

Is it possible that Peter has access to police files, too? Like to the report that states what car hit his aunt and the one that confirmed the car stolen?

"I'm afraid I have no answer to that, boss," Fridays says regretfully and Tony realizes he must have phrased his questions loud.

He absentmindedly starts pacing again. "I know kid's good, practically a wunderkind, he hacked his suit after all. But could he hack into police files, too? Like at school?"

Friday doesn't answer this time, but Tony doesn't even expect her to. It was a rhetorical question. He's just thinking loud.

But then the AI does speak up.

"I may have a theory, sir, let me check."

Tony comes to an immediate halt. "Don't keep me hanging, dear."

"You mentioned hacking the suit, boss. Peter disabled the tracker. I checked what else he could have modified. And I have noticed that he found and enabled the AI you had planted in his suit."

Tony freezes. "He did what?!"

"Peter enabled the AI and named her Karen. I already contacted her and she confirmed that Peter had her pull up the police files in question."

"Gosh, this kid is gonna be the death of me!" Tony yells and knocks both of his fists to his forehead. "Seriously, what is wrong with him? I make him an awesome suit that every superhero in the galaxy would die for and he keeps meddling with it! Disabling this, enabling that… Little brat."

"I'm sorry to interrupt your grumbling, boss, but it's quite terrifying what Karen found and told Peter," Friday says.

Tony considers scolding or at least teasing the AI for calling his rant grumbling but he quickly decides that they have more urgent matters now.

"What did Karen find?" he asks tiredly. The name of Peter's AI still feels strange on his lips and he makes a mental note to ask the kid about it later.

"She detected that the police report on the car theft had been tampered with. The car was not stolen the day before the hit."

"Which means Hal Wentworth was probably the driver who hit May Parker and he got rid of the car later," Tony says taken aback.

That's the reason why Peter went after the guy. The realization makes Tony's stomach swoop.

"Friday, reach out to the kid through Karen," he instructs.

"I'm sorry, sir, Peter has muted Karen, she can't get through to him anymore," the AI says.

Tony curses. He seriously needs to get back the control over the Spider suit.

But not now. Definitely not now. Because there's movement again: Wentworth gets into his car and Peter starts to follow him swinging over the streets and they both disappear from the screens in front of Tony.

Without hesitation, he summons his suit.

~

While Tony is doing his best to fly to the scene as fast as possible, he also orders Friday to use whatever feed she can find to observe Peter and Wentworth. The AI informs him that after a short ride, Peter stopped the guy in a relatively quiet side street. Friday finds an ATM again and a blurry feed comes up in the corner of Tony's display.

He can see Spiderman on the top of the green sports car, then jumping to the ground and ripping the door off.

"No, no, no," he mutters, as Spiderman reaches into the car and practically yanks Wentworth out, holding a tight grip on the guy's neck. He slams him into the car's side, still gripping his neck hard. "Don't do it, don't do it, Peter, please, don't do it," Tony all but begs silently, urging his suit to fly even faster. "Don't do anything stupid, kid."

And in the meantime, he knows if he was in Peter's shoes, he would strangle that bastard to death. Without any hesitation. He would let his fury take over and would kill the guy. And he wouldn't even feel guilty about it. Because that dick would deserve it, right? Killing someone, then running away and going on with his life like nothing happened? Asshole deserves to die.

And that jerk might not even know who he killed. That he took away the only family of an innocent child, took everything from him and turned his life into hell. He ended one life and ruined another. While he's having the time of his life here in Manhattan with sports cars and dinners in expensive restaurants, that poor, lonely kid is shivering and starving on the streets. Son of a bitch so deserves to die.

But. Killing him wouldn't take away Peter's pain. Wouldn't bring back his aunt. It would scar him for life, though. That good kid with his adorable ramblings, perfect manners, sweet shyness. This would break him. Haunt him for life. He would feel good like for a short moment, would feel that he has served justice but then? He would feel the guilt engulfing him and he couldn't shake it off anymore. It would consume him, swallow him whole.

Tony glances back at the footage. Wentworth is speaking. He must be begging for his miserable life.

"Friday, I know there's no sound, but could you use your amazing lip-reading skills that I provided you a few months ago? Now it'd be a really good time to try it out in action."

Friday immediately interprets the conversation.

"Do you know why I am here?" Spiderman asks. Tony can only imagine all the intense emotions in those words hearing only Friday's neutral voice.

Wentworth shakes his head but can's stop fidgeting under the strong grip around his neck. Tony knows it's in vain. Spiderman is way too strong for the man to get out of the hold. The superhero just needs to press a little harder and Wentworth's a dead man.

Spiderman leans closer and tightens his grip a bit, too. "May Parker."

Tony can see Wentworth going still under Spiderman's hold. So he does know the name. He does remember.

"You killed her," Spiderman states simply.

"I… I…" Wentworth all but stutters miserably. Obviously he has no excuse.

"You killed her and drove off never looking back. You killed her and orphaned a kid."

"I'm… I'm sorry… I didn't know," Wentworth stammers.

Honestly, Tony expects Spiderman to let the bastard go. He just wants to scare him. He's a nice kid with a good heart. He's not a killer. He wants justice not blood. At least, that's what Tony hopes for. He knows the kid could snap the guy's neck any moment but he wants him to make a good decision. For his own sake, not for Wentworth's of course. Tony might kill him himself when Spiderman lets him off the hook.

"I'm sorry, I do whatever you want, just don't kill me, please," Wentworth keeps begging.

"What? You wanna pay me off, too, like you did with the police?" Spiderman asks.

"No, no! That was my father's doing!" Wentworth vehemently protests.

"But you went along with it," Spiderman points out.

"Please, just don't kill me. I know I don't deserve it, I know what I did was wrong and trust me there's no day when I don't think about it. I'm sorry. I do whatever you want, please."

Tony rolls his eyes. Asshole would probably swear to anything just to get out of this. Pathetic prick.

For a long minute, Spiderman is not doing anything. Wentworth is staring at him with wide, pleading eyes like a convict waiting for the verdict.

And the verdict arrives.

"You're going to the closest police station to give yourself up. Tell everything about your father's bribery. Give them all the names. Right now. If I don't see it in the news tomorrow, everyone taking responsibility for all the shit you did, I'll find you. And next time I won't be this nice, trust me."

Wentworth can's stop nodding in agreement. "Of course, of course. Thank you."

Of course Spiderman has decided to give in to the pitiful begging and lets the bastard go. Of course he has decided not to kill him after all. Of course he could stop himself from giving in to rightful revenge and bloodthirst. Because Peter is so much better than Tony.

Tony sighs relieved. He's at the scene now and he can see Spiderman suddenly releasing Wentworth and the guy falls back against the side of his car. He is obviously at the verge of a panic attack, but the superhero doesn't seem understanding.

"Go," he repeats his order quietly but intimidatingly and stares at the man sternly until he collects himself and runs off.

Wentworth is so scared that he doesn't mind leaving his car behind in the middle of the street.

Spiderman waits until the guy disappears around the corner and then drops to the ground gasping. He's shaking all over.

Tony quickly flies to him and lands beside the car smoothly. Spiderman yanks off his mask and his wide eyes shoot up at Tony as the Iron suit opens and the man steps out.

Tears fill Peter's eyes. The fierce, threatening superhero is gone and only the hurt, lonely kid stays behind, broken on the cold ground. "Mr. Stark… he killed May…" he sobs.

Tony doesn't hesitate to drop to his knees beside the boy and pulls him into his arms. He envelops him in a tight hug and rubs soothing circles on his back, while the kid is weeping uncontrollably. "It's her birthday… she's… she's supposed to… be here… but he… killed her… and ran off… I… I wanted to… kill him… but I saw May then… and I knew… she wouldn't… she wouldn't want that… but I wanted, Mr. Stark… I… I wanted to kill him so badly," Peter explains through his sobs.

"It's okay, Pete," Tony whispers into the kid's ear. "You made the right decision. That's the only thing that matters. It's okay now."

Peter doesn't answer. He can't stop crying, desperately clutching Tony's shirt as if his life depends on it. Tony gently rocks him, whispering comforting words and waits patiently until the painful sobs fade into silent tears.

Then Peter pulls back with his head hanging low. "Mr. Stark, I'm-"

"Come on, kid," the man cuts him off and launches to his feet.

He knows the kid feels ashamed now and wants to apologize for his breakdown, but he won't allow that. Kid has absolutely nothing to apologize for. So Tony carefully pulls him to his feet and puts an arm around his shoulders. "Let's go home, alright?"

The man waits until teary, red-rimmed eyes look up at him and Peter gives a tiny, hesitant nod. Tony lets out a breath he doesn't remember holding, surprising himself how relieved he feels that the kid has finally agreed to return to the Tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. Where do we go from here? I would love to hear your theories, thoughts, opinions. Anything really. I love reading your comments, it's so motivating ;)
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! Here's an extra long chapter for you. The longest I have ever written. I wanted to split it into two shorter chapters but I'm going on vacation (finally!) and I don't know when I can post the next one. So I'm offering you this lengthy chapter and I hope you'll like it :)
> 
> Anyway, I'd like to thank you all for the comments, kudos and bookmarks. I love you all guys, you're amazing!
> 
> Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel. I wish.

The next morning Tony settles by his kitchen table with steaming coffee and a tablet to watch the news. He swears if that damned Hal Wentworth didn't obey Peter, he'll personally drag the bastard to a police station to give a statement. That or he'll kill the guy. That's still an option that he finds quite hard to resist. Asshole would deserve serious punishment for the hit and run. Probably life sentence. But for all the pain and suffering he caused to Peter? Hell, he deserves to die! Slowly and painfully.

Throughout the night, Tony was extremely close to getting his suit and going to kill Wentworth. He got up to summon his suit like four times. But he always changed his mind when he remembered Peter's decision. The boy showed mercy to that dumbass and Tony has to respect that.

Fortunately, Peter's choice has turned out to be the right one. The news anchor announces that Hal Wentworth confessed the hit and run and also told about his father's involvement in the case. He even named a few police officers who helped them cover up the events.

Now all Tony needs to do is to stay out of this and not to pay the guy a visit in prison to make his life a little less nice. But he knows if Peter could spare the jerk's life, then he should do that, too. At least, he should try.

He turns off the tablet and glances at the clock on the wall. It's 11.20am. Kid could wake up anytime now. Or not, God knows he needs his sleep. Last night he insisted that he wasn't too tired to swing a few blocks to the Tower, but Tony took care to stay close enough in case he needed to catch him. Kid was drained when they got home.

When they finally landed on the rooftop, Peter's eyes were only half-open, so Tony put a hand on his shoulder to guide him to the guest room. The kid automatically flinched under the touch.

"S-sorry," he whispered, lowering his head in embarrassment.

Tony tried no to imagine what horrors could have happened to Peter that generated this involuntary response. Kid needed to sleep. That was the priority. He would have plenty of time to mull over this later.

"You can sleep in the guest room tonight," he said and went ahead to the elevator. From the corner of his eye, he could see Peter - even though he was half asleep - turning his head up and down, observing every little detail during their short walk. Yeah, when the boy had been here previously, he had spent all of his time in the med bay. This part of the building was new to him.

"Welcome back, Peter", Friday greeted him, once they reached Tony's living area.

"Hello, Friday," the kid answered, smiling at the ceiling.

"This is it," Tony opened the door to the guest room. "There's a small bathroom over there. And my room is the second door on the right, in case you need anything. But you can always ask Friday, too."

Peter nodded and stepped into the room, taking a good look around. It was not much; it mostly looked like a hotel room. Just basic furniture, nothing personal. Hardly anyone ever used this room. The Avengers had their own living quarters, Pepper stayed with Tony when she came over and he didn't really have anyone else to drop in.

Peter's eyes finally found the big bed in the middle and he immediately yawned.

"It's really late now," Tony smiled. "You should sleep. Unless you're hungry?"

The boy shook his head. The man wasn't surprised. After the entire emotional trauma earlier, he wouldn't have been hungry, either.

"Okay. But I guess you don't want to sleep in your suit, right?" Tony asked and without waiting for a response, he left. He grabbed some spare clothes from his own room, a shirt and sweatpants and returned to the kid. "These should do for now," he said, giving the clothes to Peter.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark," the kid muttered.

As Peter reached for the clothes, Tony noticed the suit was practically torn to rags over the kid's hands. There might have been blood, too but the suit was too dark to spot any. The man frowned. He couldn't recall any fight earlier that night that could have resulted in injuries like these.

"What happened to your hands, kid?" He got straight to the point like always.

Peter stared down at his hands as if he saw the wounds for the first time, too. Tony couldn't blame him; kid had other priorities after all.

"Okay, go get changed, then we take care of it," he suggested, deciding not to push it.

Peter was still looking so dazed that the man didn't think he would get an explanation from him. Not that he needed one. The injuries seemed familiar. Tony also had a bad habit of punching walls in frustration and God knows kid went through a huge amount of frustration tonight. The news he had stumbled upon probably pushed him over the edge. Absolutely understandable.

He left the room to give the kid some privacy.

"Friday, should I expect any more injuries?" he asked wearily as he walked into the kitchen for his two hundredth coffee refill that day.

"No, boss. Peter is terribly exhausted, that's all. But when you clean the wounds on his hands, you'll probably find some glass shards that need to be removed. Karen informed me that Peter had broken a window and punched the wall."

"Wonderful," the man grimaced. "Could this get any better?"

But no. He had no right to be sarcastic. It was really wonderful. All that shit with Wentworth was over, Peter was here at the Tower and he was safe. Bruised knuckles? Geez, it could be so much worse!

He drank up his coffee, grabbed the medical kit and returned to Peter.

The kid was sitting on the bed, wearing the way too big clothes, shoulders slumped, head lowered. He didn't even look up when Tony entered. The man wouldn't have been surprised to find the boy already asleep. He settled on the bed next to Peter, placing the kit between them. He reached out for the kid's hands and he obeyed.

"Friday, more light, please," Tony asked, examining the wounds. He started to clean the injuries.

They were sitting there in silence, while he was working. Tony tried his best to work as fast as he could, he didn't want to keep the kid from sleeping longer than necessary. He guessed it took a lot of effort from Peter to stay awake during the process.

"Thank you, Mr. Stark," the kid finally said and the short sentence turned into a yawn.

Tony nodded and continued working. He carefully removed some small shards, cleaned and bandaged the wounds.

"Here you go," he announced when he finally finished.

When he didn't get any response, he glanced over at the boy. Peter's head was propped on his hand that Tony had attended to first and he was already out like a light. The man smiled, wondering how the boy was able to sleep in such an uncomfortable position. But given how exhausted he must have been, it shouldn't have been surprising at all.

On the other hand, it was a bit surprising that the kid didn't wake up when Tony maneuvered him into a lying position and draped a blanket over him. Before he could have stopped himself, he ran a hand through the kid's messy curls.

"Sleep tight, buddy," he whispered.

"Good night, May," Peter answered in sleep.

Tony's stomach crunched and the fond smile disappeared from his face right away.

When he closed the door behind him, he asked Friday to keep an eye on Peter and went straight to bed.

He slept really, really well, better than ever. Why? Maybe because for the first time since he had met a certain spider, he knew the kid was safe?

In the morning, on his way to the kitchen to brew his first coffee, he stopped in front of the door of the guest room. It was all silent in there. He hoped that the kid hadn't left without saying goodbye, but he knew that was a very real possibility. Then again, Friday would have alerted him.

He carefully opened the door a little and peeped in. The room was dark and in the middle of the bed there was a pile of blankets and a mop of brown curls lolling out from under the heap. Tony smiled relieved.

And here he is now in the kitchen, finishing his coffee and wondering what he should offer the kid for breakfast. If the boy sleeps longer though, Tony should probably start thinking about lunch options.

But now breakfast. Right. Coffee is definitely out of question. Tony rummages through the cupboards, until his eyes find something interesting on a top shelf. A waffle maker. A Christmas gift from Pepper. Tony has always planned to turn this simple and boring thing into something mind-blowing like a portable rocket launcher or something like that.

But now it's more important to provide quality breakfast for the kid. So he instructs Friday to search for a foolproof waffle recipe and grabs the ingredients to whip up the batter. He is quite surprised that he actually does have every ingredient in his kitchen.

He chuckles when he realizes how hilarious it is that Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, genius engineer and billionaire owner of SI is on his way to turn into a domestic goddess just to make breakfast for a kid who he accidentally met a few weeks ago. If he can call it an accident. He decided to go after Spiderman after all. He just wasn't prepared for the answer he found under the Spider mask.

Peter Parker, 15-year old prodigy, nerd, superhero and kind soul.

When the boy entered Tony's life, he changed it for good. Tony just didn't want to understand it first. Didn't want to accept it. He's not good with kids, caring or emotions in general. He's irresponsible, reckless, selfish, unpredictable and arrogant. Barton once called him a drama queen and he wasn't wrong.

If anyone had ever asked him if he wanted a kid in his life, he would have said no. Never. Yet, no one asked. Peter just kinda showed up in his world without a warning.

And ever since Tony found out the kid was not only a superhero – which is quite a dangerous job for an adult, too -, but he was also a lonely kid without family or home, he couldn't rest. He couldn't stop worrying, thinking about the kid. Where is he now? Is he in danger? Is he hungry? Is he cold? Is he lonely and sad?

Tony first decided it was not his business. The kid made a decision, and even though the man didn't really think it was the right one, he tried to respect it and let the kid live the life he had chosen for himself. That was the fair thing to do, right?

But Tony just couldn't stop worrying. So he offered him his help and invited him to the Tower. And when the kid didn't take the offer, he made him a suit. He thought he did everything he could; he did his best to take care of Peter. Who could expect more of him?

But it's not like that. He helped Spiderman. And just like Iron Man couldn't be separated from Tony Stark, Spiderman couldn't be separated from Peter Parker either. It's not enough to help only one of them. And Tony can't pretend he doesn't care. He can't pretend it's enough to help Spiderman, like superhero to superhero.

No. It's not enough. He cares about Peter. He can't stop caring about the kid. And truth is? He doesn't want to stop.

Yes, it may sound ridiculous and the other Avengers would definitely tease him about it. Hell, he doesn't understand himself, either, like what the fuck is happening to him? Is he under some kind of spell or what?

But he just can't let the kid go back to the streets, back to his fucking warehouse! Peter's here, safe and sound in the Tower and Tony hasn't felt better for a long time. Not since he first met the kid. Finally, things are like they should be.

Like they should have been a long time ago. Because Tony was an ass for a long time, he lied to himself that he didn't care that much and Peter was just fine without him. And because of him, the kid had to stay alone on the streets longer than he should have. Out in the cold. Going hungry God knows how often. And going after his aunt's murderer, nearly killing him. Hell, if Peter had strangled Wentworth to death that would have been on Tony. Because he wasn't there for the kid.

But from now on, it'll be different.

Yes, he will be awful at this, awful at taking care of Peter but at least he will try his best. The kid would probably deserve someone much better in his corner, but Tony will try. He really will. He just needs Peter to accept his help. And geez, that's not gonna be easy! The kid has never taken Tony's offer to drop in the Tower. He has never come to ask for help with the suit, to ask for repairs or to suggest upgrades. Maybe he didn't think Tony was serious when he talked about helping him. But he will prove to the kid how serious he is. Hell, here he is making damned waffles, is there any more proof necessary?

Just as Tony places the last waffle on the top of a big pile, Peter emerges from his room. With his hair stuck up in all directions and eyes only half-open, he is slowly approaching the kitchen. Tony's first thought is that the kid is in serious need of a haircut. And second, the boy is practically skin and bones. Obviously, Tony's clothes don't do him justice, but the oversized clothes are probably not the only reason why the kid looks like a scarecrow. Tony seriously considers whipping up a second batch of waffles. He makes a mental note to ask Friday later to make a list of nutritious food that he could feed Peter with.

"Good morning, sunshine," Tony greets him, forcing himself to smile before the kid could see the concern on his face. He briefly wonders if it ever stops. The worrying. He thought if he knew Peter's safe, it would be gone. But it seems like the concern is here to stay for good. Fantastic. "I hope you're hungry," he says, pushing the plate full of waffles toward Peter, who hesitantly takes a seat, eyeing Tony with suspicion.

"Thank you," the kid says, though it sounds more like a question.

Peter gets suspicious when someone makes him food. Great. Of course, Tony understands the kid's distrust. It's not like he's got much help in the last few months.

Well, it's time to change that.

"Come on, eat up," Tony gestures at the plate and then grabs some berries from the refrigerator. When he turns back to Peter to offer him the fruit too, he's happy to see the boy is demolishing the waffles at an incredible speed. He suppresses the urge to tell him to slow down. Because then he would sound like a parent, right?

Tony pours himself some more coffee and settles at the table. "Blueberries, too, kid, don't forget about the vitamins," he says and immediately winces. There goes his plan no to sound like a parent.

Peter's eyes shoot up at him and he furrows his brow. There it is. The suspicion in his eyes again. And confusion. He obviously doesn't know what to do with the sudden care.

Tony decides to change the subject. "Previously on Spiderman Rules the World: Wentworth took your advice. He's going down along with his father and some corrupt police officers."

The kid simply nods and continues eating with a blank face. As if he has absolutely nothing to do with this. The intimidating superhero from last night is nowhere to be seen. This is just the poor boy who lost his family. Justice has been served, but Peter's pain is here to stay for now. The memory of the heartbroken, sobbing kid is still fresh in Tony's mind; it's an image he will probably never forget.

Okay. Time to change the subject again.

Tony leans forward and takes a deep breath. "Kid, we need to talk," he states, looking into Peter's eyes.

And those big brown eyes suddenly grow even bigger in fear. "Mr. Stark, I'm really sorry but I have school and I have some tests and homework…" he starts gabbling.

The man leans back and rolls his eyes. Here we go. Not the first time that the kid tries to avoid an uncomfortable conversation like this. Deflecting.

"We have this huge Spanish test coming up, like really huge and I can't miss that," Peter goes on. "And then Chemistry… I need to get to the school lab because I have almost run out of web fluid and I really need to make more. Like a whole lot more... And I also need to catch up with my friend, Ned. His dad has some health issues and Ned's freaking out and I just need to talk to him, be there for him, you know… And have I mentioned decathlon practice? Team's behind, Mr. Stark, we need to squeeze in some extra practices-"

"Are you done?" Tony asks unimpressed.

Peter opens his mouth but not a word comes out.

The man sighs. "Listen, kid, first of all, have you checked the time? School is not an option today, buddy. So you can't use that as an excuse not to talk to me."

The boy glances at the clock on the wall and his shoulders drop.

"Don't worry, your lovely made-up Aunt Julia saved you again," Tony shrugs.

"Friday?" the kid narrows his eyes.

"This time she was more helpful," the man snorts.

"You needed to sleep, Peter," the AI interjects.

"Thanks, I guess," the boy mutters, looking up at the ceiling.

"Anyway, here's the deal, kid," Tony starts, turning serious and placing both hands on the table. "You have absolutely no reason to be scared," he quickly adds, as Peter leans back as if trying to put more space between them. "I just want you to stay here. At the Tower… for a few days."

He so badly wants to say forever but seeing how terrified the kid already is, he just doesn't want to overwhelm him. Saying a few days should be a good start. For both of them to get used to the new situation. They can work with a few days. Baby steps.

And when those few days are up, they will be so used to their new life that Peter's stay will be automatically extended for good. They won't even have to talk about it; it'll be evident, right? Well, at least that's the plan.

But Peter doesn't look up; he's still staring at his now empty plate.

Tony didn't exactly expect the kid to start jumping for joy hearing the proposal. But he didn't expect absolute silence either.

"You can stay in the guest room," he explains, trying to break the uncomfortable silence, fidgeting with his mug. "I know your school is not that close, but I have a driver who can take you or you could just swing over there. Driving would be more discreet, though," he laughs nervously.

But there's still nothing from Peter.

Okay, this silence is getting more and more awkward.

"Kid?" Tony asks impatiently. And desperately.

Peter finally looks up at him. The only emotion that his eyes give away is confusion. "Can I… think about it, Mr. Stark?"

Tony staggers back in shock. Think about it? What is there to think about? He has just offered the kid a room in his penthouse; it is surely better than the empty warehouse that he currently stays in. And the room would come with regular food, of course. Should have he mentioned that, too? Wasn't that obvious? Geez, were those damned waffles that bad?

He wants to say to Peter that no, he can't think about it. It is decided. Tony has already decided. Peter's a kid and Tony knows better. It wasn't really an offer, it was a statement. An announcement. Peter stays. Discussion is over.

But of course it's not what Tony says. He has to give the kid space. He has been all alone in the last few months; Tony can't just swing into his life, telling him what to do. He can't force the boy. Peter needs to let him in.

Anyway, who cares? Obviously, Peter will come to his senses and realize Tony's guest room is far better than his abandoned building. And real food. Sleeping in a bed and eating enough food should be irresistible enough. And when you're a superhero by night, it's kinda convenient that you can stay with another superhero, right? Peter will understand this. Tony just needs to let him come to this conclusion by himself.

"Alright, kid, think about it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time we're going to check up on Peter, alright?
> 
> Please comment, I love reading your thoughts, that's my favorite hobby :) And now I'm heading to the kitchen, I'm gonna make some waffles :)
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends, I'm back! Sorry for the long wait, but now here's a new chapter for you. I hope you'll like it. Let's see how Peter's doing!  
> Thanks again for the comments, kudos and bookmarks, I love you guys!  
> Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel. I wish.

Back in Mr. Stark's guest room Peter changes back into his suit and neatly folds the borrowed clothes, placing them on the bed. Oh, that bed! He gives it a longing look. He wishes he could take it with him. Last night he slept like a baby. He hasn't slept that well for a very long time. Probably since May died. But why was last night different? Probably because he was so exhausted.

Anyway, it's time to get back to his real life now. The sooner the better. He just needs to thank Mr. Stark once again. It's been very kind of him to let Peter crash here for the night. And then the nice breakfast… So thanking Mr. Stark and then back to Queens. The man was right, he can't go to school today, but his shift at the store is waiting for him. It'll be a nice distraction after the events of the last few hours.

He examines the injuries on his hands. The cuts have faded into barely visible scars, just a few more hours and they'll be gone for good. The last reminders of last night's events. Mr. Stark said Hal Wentworth had given himself up, which is good. Spiderman has served justice once again. Problem is Peter's pain is here to stay. He hopes with time it'll also fade just like his physical scars. It won't disappear entirely, no but it might get easier. Hopefully, memories of May – and Ben, oh, Uncle Ben – won't bring tears into his eyes every single time. He just needs to be patient and he'll get there one day.

He walks to the door and before opening it, he turns around to take one last look at the room. It's been so nice to let someone take care of him for once. And it would be even better to extend his stay for a few more days like Mr. Stark offered. But what good would that do? Would it be easier to leave in a few days than now?

It would so great though, if… no, he can't go there. Mr. Stark said only a few days and that's it. And Peter absolutely understands the man. Mr. Stark's busy. He's a successful businessman, inventor and Avenger. Peter once read in a magazine that Mr. Stark hardly ever sleeps. Probably because he has so much to do that he just doesn't have time to sleep. How could Peter expect him to have time for a kid?

Like really? For a kid? Peter doesn't know Mr. Stark that much but he can't imagine him being a family person, someone who would appreciate a kid running around at the Tower even for a few days.

Last night was an extraordinary situation and – to Peter's embarrassment – Mr. Stark witnessed his emotional breakdown so he must have taken pity on him and that's the reason why the man brought him here to the Tower and offered him to stay a bit. Mr. Stark is really nice and helpful, but Peter can't take advantage of a simple, polite gesture. He would be only an inconvenience in the man's life and he really doesn't want that. Mr. Stark doesn't deserve that after helping him so much.

And again: it won't be any easier to leave a bit later than now. Damn, it's so not easy to leave! He shouldn't have accepted the offer and should have gone back to Queens right away last night. He wouldn't miss this comfy bed then and wouldn't have any memory of someone making him breakfast. Something that May did before.

Peter swallows back some tears. He forces himself to leave the room. It's not his home. And superheroes don't cry. At least, not at Mr. Stark's Tower. Maybe back in their shitty warehouse but definitely not here.

Once again, Mr. Stark walks with him up to the rooftop, so that Peter can swing back into his own reality. Mr. Stark asks a few times if he has changed his mind about staying, but Peter manages to remain strong and doesn't give in. Not even when the man says they could order pizza and work together on Peter's suit. That stuns him for a moment. When Mr. Stark proposed staying, Peter thought the man would mind his own business and wouldn't spend much time with him. But here he is now, suggesting working together and pizza.

Which sounds awesome. Peter suddenly remembers his old dream: working with Mr. Stark. This dream could actually come true!

But a voice in the back of his mind immediately reminds him: only for a few days. Why would it be a good idea to collect some more fond memories before having to leave anyway?

So Peter sticks to his position and after promising Mr. Stark again to drop in if he needs help or there's some kind of problem with the suit, he leaves. He can see a sad smile on Mr. Stark's face before he leaps off the ledge and he guesses the man also knows he won't return. But it's better this way for Mr. Stark, too. It would be really awkward for him if Peter stayed. When the few days are up and he needs to send back Peter to Queens… that would be a very uncomfortable conversation.

Yeah, it's better this way for both of them.

~

The next morning Peter goes to school and tries to convince himself his life is back to normal. Sleeping on his old mattress and eating expired food for breakfast have been normal to him for months. _This_ is his life, not spending the night in a real bed and eating freshly made waffles. That was a one-time experience while the warehouse and crappy granola bars are his reality. He should be really used to it by now. Missing something that he can never have is weakness.

He drags himself to his locker when someone pats him on the shoulder. He turns around to see Ned grinning at him and they greet each other with their signature handshake.

"Hey man, good to see you. So Maya feels better?" Ned asks.

"Well, she's still sick. But Aunt Julia could stay home with her today."

Peter mentally pats himself on the shoulder for giving the right answer this time. Truth is he was practicing it all along his walk to school. He didn't want to make a mistake again regarding his cover story. And this time the cover story is that Julia's daughter, Maya had the flu and Julia couldn't stay home with her because of work. So she asked Peter to stay with her and that's the reason why he missed school yesterday.

"It's crazy that one of you guys always has the flu, dude. I mean first Maya, then you and then her again," Ned complains.

Peter's face immediately turns red. Ned is right. Flu has been his excuse way too often. First, he told about the made-up girl's flu to Ned and his mom. Then Mr. Stark came up with the same story to explain Peter's absence from school when he was shot. And now they have picked flu again to reason his no show yesterday. Peter is in serious need of new cover stories.

"What can I say?" he laughs nervously. "We have weak immune system."

Lame, oh, it's so lame! Plus, Peter's immune system has been exactly the opposite of weak since the bite. Not that Ned would know about that.

His friend just shrugs and starts talking about a new Star Wars Lego that he has just received from his grandmother as some kind of very late Christmas gift and he suggests that they should work on it together after school. Peter doesn't have a shift at the store today and he gladly accepts the invitation. It'll be a nice distraction, some quality time with his best friend. He just needs to be extra careful not to let anything slip about his fake family, Spiderman or Mr. Stark. Gosh, he might have a little too many secrets to keep!

At Chemistry, Peter is busy with making as much web fluid as possible. At any other time he might feel sad that he's almost invisible to the other kids – except for Ned and MJ, of course – but right now this gives him a perfect opportunity to work in peace. Over his shoulder, he sometimes glances back at Flash Thompson, who is always ready to tease Peter practically about anything but fortunately Flash isn't paying him any attention now. He's just absentmindedly scrolling on his phone instead of focusing on the experiment in front of him on the desk.

When Peter discreetly places the newly produced web fluid into his backpack, his spider sense suddenly goes wild and he turns back to Flash on instinct. The boy jumps and nearly drops his phone, staring at the device in his hands with wide eyes. "What the f-?"

"Mr. Thompson, do I really need to remind you not to use your phone during class?" the teacher sighs uninterested.

"But… there's a huge… what is this… a monster… like a gorilla… a beast… running loose and destroying everything in its way… and it's right here!" Flash yells, unable to look away from his phone. "It's all over the Internet! We're so gonna die!"

The teacher tries to respond, but his voice gets lost in the chaos that suddenly erupts in the classroom. Every kid pulls out their phone and eagerly checks the news and social media. Terrified voices fill the air.

"What the hell is this?"

"It threw a car into a house!"

"This freak is going to kill us!"

"It's bigger than the Hulk! And stronger!"

"Look, it smashed that truck!"

"Did is escape from some kind of crazy zoo?"

"Why is it so angry?"

"It's coming this way!"

"Why aren't the Avengers coming?"

"Calm down, kids, everything's alright, no need to panic!" the teacher tries to talk over the scared voices.

In that very moment, there's a loud crash outside the building. As they all turn to the windows, they can see the monster picking up and throwing away cars in the parking lot like a child playing with pebbles on the beach. Like a furious, roaring child.

The kids start screaming in fear.

"Under the desks! Now!" the teacher orders and the kids obey terrified.

"What is this?" Peter asks, curiously peeking out from under a desk where he is hiding with Ned.

His friend grabs his hoodie and pulls him back scared. "Peter, don't! We have to stay here."

Peter weighs his options. He should sneak out of the classroom and confront this giant as Spiderman. Probably asking the teacher to let him out to the bathroom is not a good idea now. While he's impatiently thinking about believable excuses to leave the room in this crazy situation, he glances over at Ned who is anxiously checking the news on his phone.

"It really looks like a gorilla but it's bigger," Ned explains, noticing his friend's eyes on him. "They suspect it might a lab experiment from Oscorp going rogue. It showed up on the streets only a few minutes ago but has already smashed tons of buildings and vehicles. They tried to put him down, but no gun or tranquilizer has been effective so far. Like it's bulletproof or something."

"So we have a really angry and strong King Kong out there."

"Yeah. I hope the Avengers arrive soon. Before, you know, it breaks into the school," Ned mutters horrified.

Peter stares at the door. It's so close, but he doubts he could get out unnoticed, even though everyone's eyes are glued to the windows. They can still hear loud bangs and crashes from the lot. Suddenly, there's a school bus in the air and the kids scream in shock.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Peter whispers to Ned.

His friend's eyes go even wider than before. "What?!"

"Yeah, I need to go to the bathroom. Like now," Peter explains.

"I don't think it's safe, dude," Ned protests.

"I know but I have to," Peter claims and puts a hand over his mouth for more effect.

Ned doesn't say anything; he's just staring at Peter in fear while he's slowly crawling toward the door. When he reaches it, he looks back. There's only Ned watching him, obviously still in shock. Everyone else is looking at the windows. Peter sneaks out unnoticed.

The whole building is unusually quiet. Probably every classroom looks the same as the one that he has just left: frightened kids trembling under the desks, helplessly waiting for someone to save them.

Well, Peter's ready to turn into Spiderman. He just needs his suit and his freshly made web fluid. Yeah, this gorilla-like monster might be strong and tough and slightly bigger than the average muggers and bank robbers he usually fights, but he can't wait for the Avengers to come to their rescue. He can't sit still and wait for them with the other kids. He just can't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think, your feedback is very important to me. I have a very clear idea of the next few chapters, but please feel free to share your theories. And let me know if you want me to confirm or deny them :)  
> Thank you for reading!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! Here's a new chapter for you. Let's see if Peter can handle the latest threat.  
> Thanks again for the comments, kudos and bookmarks, you're amazing, guys!  
> Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel. I wish.

Half a minute later Spiderman is out in the parking lot where the giant creature is still having fun tossing cars and school buses.

"Hey big guy," Spiderman greets the beast, casually sitting on a lamppost. "Why don't we take this game somewhere else? I can see you like cars. There's a much bigger parking lot just around the corner. Like huge. With tons of cool cars. And far from the school. What do you think, can we go?"

The monster turns to Spiderman, picks up a sports car and throws it at him. The superhero easily dodges the flying vehicle, shooting a web at a flagpole, swinging and landing behind the giant on the ground. The car crashes into the lamppost.

"Oops, dude, I think that was Flash's car. He'll be pissed," Spiderman complains.

The brute turns to him growling, hits its chest with both fists like a real gorilla and reaches for the superhero. Spiderman quickly jumps out of its way and hops up on the school fence. The animal launches after him, but he jumps further from its reach again. It leaps and he springs. Again and again. The creature is chasing the superhero like a toddler trying to catch a butterfly. And it doesn't notice that Spiderman is luring it further and further away from the school.

"Hey, Karen, can you hack into Oscorp to see what you can find about our fortunately not too smart new friend?" Spiderman asks his AI while jumping and swinging in front of the creature. He tries to lure it toward a less crowded part of the city, far from possible victims. He also tries to take in a few punches, but the monster doesn't even flinch. That comparison with the Hulk might have not been that farfetched.

Police cars follow them and he notices they have decided to keep a safe distance and expect him to deal with the threat. He really appreciates the trust, because that's what it is about, right? They trust him to handle it. It can't be that they don't know what to do with the freak.

Karen willingly pulls up a file on an animal experiment that went wrong. Similarly to the method that was used to create super soldiers like Captain America, Oscorp wanted to create super animals. Well, animals definitely think less than humans and obey without hesitation. Except when they break out of the lab and run amok in the city.

"Is it true that it's bulletproof?" Spiderman asks, successfully avoiding the gorilla's fingers trying to clench around him. He thinks now he really knows what poor flies must feel when people want to slap them.

"I'm afraid it has an unusually thick skin, yes," Karen informs him.

"Any suggestion for neutralizing this cute stuffed monkey? Besides calling Mr. Stark, obviously," he quickly adds knowing his AI. Because of course he can handle this on his own. Then before Karen could response, he has an idea. "What if it fell from a big height? Like from a top of a really tall building? Would it survive? Or could the fall break its leg at least, so it couldn't run rampant anymore?"

"That might work, Peter," Karen answers after some consideration.

"Great, show me the route to the nearest building that could be tall enough. And not full of people, if possible."

"There is an old office building three blocks from here. It is now empty and going to be torn down in two days."

"Exactly what we need, awesome, Karen," Spiderman cheers landing on the ground and flipping between the creature's legs trying to confuse it.

But the move makes the animal even angrier and with a deafening roar, it quickly grabs Spiderman and throws him at a firewall. Something cracks. He falls to the ground.

"Whoops, that was a rib. Or two," Spiderman mumbles clutching his side. "Okay, it's official: its favorite game is throwing things. Or people."

"Peter, are you alright?" Karen asks concerned.

Not that much but he really doesn't have time for that now. Because the monster leaps forward and he needs to shoot a web to swing out of its way.

"May I suggest calling Mr. Stark now?" the AI tries.

"Less talking, Karen and more fighting," Spiderman replies, dodging the monster's hands a few more times. "Which way?"

Karen shows him the route to the building that she found and continuing the weird tag, they soon arrive. The building has at least sixty floors and it seems abandoned.

"Are you sure it's empty?" Spiderman asks.

"Yes, Peter, it's been empty for a year now."

"Let's go in then."

Spiderman quickly swings toward the entrance. He believes the doors, corridors and stairways in the building won't be big enough for the gorilla, but he guesses it'll just break its way through the walls.

He turns out to be right. No wall can be thick enough for the monster to break through to try to catch Spiderman. It is chasing the superhero with growing fury. Those earsplitting growls just never stop and now they're accompanied by the sound of crashing walls and shattering glass.

"Up, up, up," Spiderman encourages himself, hurrying to the roof.

It should be easy, but there are bricks, pieces of glass and tons of debris flying around him as his pursuer follows him frantically, destroying practically everything in its way. Some pieces hit or cut him, but he really doesn't care, he can't stop now, he has to go. As high as he can. So he ignores Karen's concerned announcements adding more and more items to the list of cuts and bruises and forces his way up the floors.

"Which floor?" he manages.

"We're currently on floor 55," the AI answers.

Nearly there. Then a huge glass wall shatters right beside him, when the creature breaks through it and a big shard implants itself into Spiderman's left bicep. He makes a mistake: he stops for a moment to pull it out. He hisses in pain as he yanks out the shard and quickly patches up the cut with some webbing. This should do for now.

But the tiny break gives the giant a perfect opportunity to gain upon him and in the next moment, Spiderman feels strong fingers clenching around him. He desperately tries to break free and he can actually feel the grip loosening, but before he could get out of the grasp, the creature tosses him again. This time down through a hole in the floors.

Spiderman tries to shoot a web to break his fall, but it's too late and he lands on his left side. Hard. He can hear several of his bones breaking. He slowly rolls onto his back with a groan and glances up at the gorilla through the hole. He fell down at least four floors. Wow. That was a big hole.

Okay, now is really not the time to mull over it. It's time to get up and go.

But when he tries to pull himself up, hot white pain flares up in his left leg and arm, in protest against the movement. Plus, he can feel some pulsing pain on the left side of his head. He carefully touches his temple, and then examines his fingers when he draws them back. There's blood on his fingertips. Great.

"What the-"

"Peter, I am sorry to inform you that your left leg and wrist broke from the impact. Also, two of your ribs cracked and three of them bruised. I can detect a mild concussion, too," Karen explains with sorrow audible in her voice.

Above him, the beast bangs its chest again in victory and roars furiously.

"I guess a time-out is not an option now," Spiderman murmurs.

Gritting his teeth, he raises his right arm, shoots a web at the ceiling above the crazy creature and hoists himself up all the four floors. The animal watches confused as Spiderman awkwardly lands on the ground on the other side of the big hole. He quickly shoots another web at a wall to keep himself steady while balancing on one leg.

It's gonna be even more difficult than he thought. He can't use his left arm, so he has to work with only one web shooter. And he might need more webs, because swinging and hoisting or simply keeping his balance is much harder now with his injuries. But the plan is the same. Luring the monster to the top floor and shoving it down to its fate. And most of all, using the adrenaline and ignoring the pain.

He makes eye contact with the wild animal. "Come on, Kong, catch me if you can!"

Spiderman continues the tag and hurries toward the roof. He shoots plenty of webs at incredible speed and swings all along the remaining floors, without letting his left foot touch the ground. Whenever he forgets about his injuries during the pursuit and he involuntarily puts weight on his left leg or instinctively tries to raise his left hand to shoot a web, the pain flares up and he winces. Sometimes even screams. It doesn't matter; no one hears it, right? He just needs to think twice before moving and ignore the pain all over his left side. And the pounding headache. All that while running away from a huge, angry monkey. Easy.

Fortunately, a few minutes later he reaches the roof and he can hear that his pursuer is not far behind. He looks around, waggling clumsily on one leg, planning his next move. He shoots a web at a tall antenna and launches himself onto the ledge. The animal finally shows up on the roof with big, bloodshot eyes looking for the superhero.

"I'm right here, big guy!" Spiderman shouts and waves. "Dude, you cornered me! Damn, I've got nowhere to run from here. You're so gonna win."

The brute rumbles and starts running toward him. Spiderman patiently waits, stumbling on the ledge. Before he could stop himself, he glances down. Oh, the ground is really far from here.

He can hear the now familiar growling getting closer and he looks up just in time to see the gorilla leaping at him.

He shoots a web at the antenna again and swings out of the way of the creature in the very last moment. He can see the exact second in the beast's eyes when it realizes it's too late to correct its move.

Spiderman looks away, focusing on landing on the ground smoothly, sparing his injured leg. He slides down to the ground, leaning back against the pole behind him. He yanks off his mask and tiredly stares at the spot where the monster must have disappeared over the ledge. Yeah, it was close.

As the fight is over, his injured limbs and head decide it's time to catch Peter's full attention now. He feels dizzy, drained and numb. And he can feel every break, hit, cut and bruise flaring up with newfound intensity, as if they're competing who can cause him more pain.

But it's okay. Because dark spots edge his vision now and as the spots slowly become bigger and bigger, the blackness becomes more and more inviting, offering him an escape from all the pain.

He closes his eyes feeling utterly exhausted. "Karen… now… maybe now… would be a good time to… to call Mr. Stark," he mutters before finally giving in to the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Did you like it? I'm always so worried about writing action scenes, it's so difficult. But when you write about superheroes, you can't avoid action scenes, right? 
> 
> Next: what will Tony do? 
> 
> Please comment, I really love comments! And I also love thinking about new story ideas, I have tons, haha!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I'm back! I wanted to bring this new chapter a bit earlier, but my job had other ideas. Anyway, it's here now and it's Tony's time to shine. Enjoy!
> 
> Thanks again for the comments, kudos and bookmarks, your support is everything!
> 
> Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel. I wish.

A ray of warm sunshine wakes Tony up, gently stroking his face. He groans and rolls onto his other side. "Friday, windows," he mutters and the AI instantly darkens the room, shutting out all the natural light.

Tony went to bed like at 6am. Peter's abrupt leaving the day before left him shocked, worried and restless. So he decided to spend the rest of the day in the lab. That was always a good idea. Working there, trying to figure out science mysteries, upgrading his suit and inventing new toys always offered a perfect distraction from his personal issues.

But not yesterday. Because yesterday he couldn't really do anything. He just couldn't focus. He began something new every ten minutes. He tossed away a tool irritated every five minutes. He drank coffee after coffee, but not even that helped. He was exhausted and agitated at the same time.

All because of Peter.

And Tony still can't wrap his mind around it. How could the kid not jump on his offer? Tony might not be who the boy really needs or deserves, he's probably far from that, but even his sorry self and the Tower should be better than living on the streets and starving. Okay, the kid didn't want to go into foster care and Tony gets it, that might suck, but the streets, dammit? Would he rather sleep in his fucking warehouse than here? Is this really such a bad place? Is staying with Tony really such a horrible option that even the streets seem more inviting?

Fine, the kid didn't exactly reject his help, he asked for time. But what on earth could he think about? From Tony's point of view, it's simple. Tower or the streets. Is it really such a hard decision?

The man knows the kid has lived on the streets by himself for a few long months now and he's sure this is definitely not how Peter imagined his life would go. But he has coped with it. He's independent, tough and persistent. Damn, kid is so strong! He's a real superhero even without the suit. And truth is, he doesn't even know.

But a 15-year old kid shouldn't be like that. He shouldn't live by himself (let alone on the streets), he shouldn't starve, he shouldn't make serious decisions all by himself, he shouldn't be alone at all. Totally, utterly alone. His life turned into a mess when his aunt died, but now when he has the chance, he refuses to change it. It's not right. Peter's life is not the life he should live.

And yet he turned Tony down when he offered him a way out.

Why? Doesn't he believe he deserves it? But he deserves so much more! He would deserve a loving family and a place to stay that feels like home. And Tony can't guarantee any of that, he can offer much less, but Peter should accept at least that.

Last night Tony went though many stages. He tried to understand the kid's decision, tried to figure out the logic behind it, tried to pretend he didn't really care, tried not to get upset. Well, the last one wasn't really successful. Tony did get upset. He got angry. With the kid for not making the only reasonable choice and with himself for not being able to move on and live his life forgetting about Peter. How could have he gone to bed?

When dawn came, he decided to give it a try, though. But he just tossed around under the blankets; his sleep was anything but peaceful. The exact opposite of the previous night when Peter had been staying at the Tower.

But when Tony finally managed to fall asleep, that damned sunshine woke him up.

And now he can't go back to sleep. He's just lying in his bed staring at the ceiling, wondering what the kid might be up to. He glances at the clock. Right. Peter must be at school. Enjoying the only part of his day that has remained relatively the same in the last few months. At school he can be with his friends and do what he really should do: just being a kid.

"Boss, sorry to disturb you, but Karen is trying to contact you," Friday suddenly announces.

For a minute, Tony has no idea who Karen is. She must be important, though, otherwise Friday wouldn't tell him about her. His AI knows better than to inform him about any random caller. Then he remembers.

"Why isn't Peter calling me?" he lifts an eyebrow.

"Karen says Peter is injured and unconscious."

That makes Tony bolt out of his bed. "Elaborate, Friday, dammit!" he grumbles.

"According to Karen, there was a giant gorilla-"

The man comes to an immediate halt. "A what?" he asks staggered.

"There was a failed lab experiment at Oscorp, this gorilla-like monster escaped and ran amok in the city. Peter managed to stop it but got injured in the fight. He is on a rooftop-"

"Give me the coordinates!" Tony orders, immediately summoning his suit.

He can't help feeling mad at his AI, too. Why didn't she tell him earlier? This freak seems like a pretty big deal and the fight must have been all over the news. Yes, Friday knows Tony is usually sleep deprived, so she doesn't disturb him when he manages to fall asleep, unless it's an emergency. But this is an emergency! And he was more like trying to sleep, not actually sleeping.

Then he remembers Friday is his AI, he's the one who has programmed her, so there's only one person he can blame: himself. He seriously needs to reprogram Friday, so that she warns him when Peter's in danger, even when Tony is asleep.

But first, he needs to find Peter. While he's on his way to the scene, flying over buildings, Friday gives him a report on Peter's injuries. Broken bones, bruised ribs, cuts and bruises. Nothing seems life-threatening, but Tony still worries about the kid. A lot. He instructs Friday to call Bruce, so that the scientist can take care of the boy, as soon as they get back to the Tower.

So this is what the kid was up to. While Tony was lying in his bed, deep in his thoughts and guessed Peter was at school like an average kid, he was fighting some kind of beast. Friday shows him the footage from Peter's suit and he can see the battle was definitely not an easy one. Geez, that creature was bigger than the Hulk! And he tossed Peter around as if he was a freaking rag doll. The AI also informs him that the monster died when it fell from the top of the building where Peter was lying unconscious. But not before breaking the kid's leg and wrist. For that, Tony would love to bring the freak back to life and give it a torturous death.

Getting closer to the scene, he can see several police cars everywhere and more vehicles arriving. He ignores them, he has only one priority: finding the injured superhero.

As he lands on the rooftop and spots Peter leaning against a pole with his head hanging low, Tony's stomach once again swoops with nerves. This scene is way too familiar, he has a feeling of déjá vu and he hates it. Last time when he found Spiderman on a roof like this, the young superhero was about to bleed to death. Even though Tony knows this time his condition is less critical, he can't help worrying. Peter slumped to the ground with broken bones and unconscious is anything but normal.

He steps out of his suit, rushes to him and kneels down, squeezing the kid's shoulder, trying to rouse him. Friday told about the mild concussion and what if it got more severe?

"Kid, can you hear me? Open your eyes, Pete," he asks softly. "Please, kid."

There's a long moment of silence before anything happens, but then the boy stirs and raises his head; his big brown eyes slowly flutter open and find the man beside him. Although Tony doesn't like how unfocused those eyes look, he gives Peter a huge smile. He waits until realization hits the kid.

"M'st'r St'rk… wha-what are you… doin…here?" Peter rasps, looking up in confusion.

Really? Kid's down and he wonders what Tony is doing here. Concussion, right.

Peter looks around nervously and Tony doesn't know if the boy is trying to figure out what happened or searching for his dead opponent. The man gives Peter's shoulder another squeeze to gain his attention. "How are you feeling, kid?"

"I… Karen said... I… broke my leg… and wrist," the boy answers hesitantly, glancing down at his hands as if trying to figure out which one is hurt.

His behavior starts to freak out Tony, but he forces himself to look calm.

"Yeah, and you also have a concussion," he adds but doubts Peter comprehends it. "We should get back to the Tower, Bruce is waiting for us."

"Dr. Banner?" the boy's head snaps up. "Dr. Banner is there?"

Tony gets up, steps back into his suit and returns to the kid.

"Of course _that_ gets your attention," he grins and carefully slides his arms under the kid's back and knees.

When he cautiously lifts him up, another memory hits him: how surprised he was when he did the same back then. When Spiderman was shot. Tony wondered how light the superhero was. Back then he didn't know there was a miserable kid under the mask. Now he knows and he can't help speculating if the kid had dinner last night. Damn, when they get back to the Tower, he'll force-feed him if he has to but he won't let him leave without gaining some weight.

Hell, he doubts he can ever let him leave at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do you think? Did you like it? Tell me, please :)  
> And what will Tony do now? What should he do? The next chapter is gonna be his POV, too, okay?
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely readers! Here's the next chapter for you. It's mostly about Tony and it's a huge milestone for him. You'll see ;)
> 
> Thanks again for the comments, kudos and bookmarks, you are truly amazing!
> 
> Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel. I wish.

Back in the med bay, Tony is standing on the corridor, staring into Peter's room through the small window in the door. He's been watching the boy's sleeping form for about half an hour now and he's still waiting for his brain to catch up with the events and give the order to his blood pressure to go back to normal level, because the kid is here, he's safe and he's gonna be okay.

Peter's left leg and wrist are in cast, his ribs bandaged and all of his cuts have been cleaned and dressed, too. Bruce did a good job like always. However, the circumstances were definitely different from what the scientist must be used to. Because it certainly doesn't happen every day that his patient can't stop discussing gamma radiation theories while being patched up. Not that Bruce seemed to mind. He must have been secretly flattered by Peter's pretty obvious admiration. And there are not many people in the world who admire Bruce's scientific career more than his affinity to turn into an angry green beast every now and then.

But then Tony reminded Peter that he needed sleep to heal faster and he would have plenty of time to brainstorm with Bruce later. The kid finally gave in to his apparent exhaustion and dozed off.

And here is Tony now, watching the kid who waltzed into his life a few weeks ago and changed it for good. Because now he's pretty sure things will never be the same again. Not like they had been before he found out who was hiding under that ridiculously primitive Spider mask. And truth is Tony doesn't even want to go back there. Yes, his life has become definitely harder, more complicated with Peter in it and he worries all the time, but he wouldn't want it any other way now.

Even only a few days ago, when the mere thought of taking responsibility for this kid flared up in his mind, he freaked out. Damn, he's not sure he can take responsibility for himself, let alone for a child! But Bruce is right. Someone has to take care of the boy. Someone has to give him a home, protection and comfort. God knows, the kid really deserves it. And ideally, that someone should be able to help him with his superhero alter ego, too. And let's face it that really narrows down the options.

In a perfect world, Tony would take in Peter without hesitation, would provide him a home, a place to stay, food to eat and support his crime fighting hobby. Maybe Iron Man could even ask the young hero to join him and the Avengers on a mission or two. They would live together like a happy, superhero family.

But. Tony still doubts it's possible. Of course, he could always help out Peter with the Spidey stuff. Making a suit, offering upgrades, training him, giving him advice. Easy. But the home part? Tony knows from experience that a home means more than a place. It means emotions, too and he knows he sucks at those. But he's always been kinda okay with that. Because it's been only his life he could mess up. But what if he messes up Peter's, too? The kid needs emotional support and Tony's not sure if he's able to give him that.

Living with Tony must be better than living on the streets, sure, but kid deserves more than _better_. He deserves the best life possible. And Tony wants to give him that, he really does, but can he? Maybe Peter was right when he didn't want to stay at the Tower with him.

But they should try it anyway. At least for a few days, until the kid recovers. Tony will go back to his original offer. But this time he won't _ask_ Peter. He will tell him to stay. Order him if he has to. And then…

Interrupting his train of thoughts, Bruce walks up to him with two coffee mugs in his hands and offers one of them to Tony.

"Don't worry, he's gonna be okay," the scientist says smiling and tilting his head towards his young patient behind the glass.

Tony gives him a nod and decides not to tell his friend that he has misunderstood the worry that must be written all over his face. He knows the kid's gonna be fine. He'll recover in no time. But then what? _That's_ what makes Tony worry.

"I think when he wakes up, I can release him," Bruce continues. "It won't be easy with those casts, but there's no reason to make him stay here."

Tony nods again and tries not to panic. He has much less time left than he thought. Peter could wake up anytime. And Tony will have to tell him that he can't go back to his damned warehouse but he will stay at the Tower for a while. He has a feeling that the kid won't accept it easily. It must have been a while since someone actually told him what to do.

"On second thought," Bruce says, breaking into Tony's thoughts again. "I should probably make him stay longer. It wouldn't be wise to let him leave in his condition. I mean his living circumstances…"

"…are far from ideal," Tony finishes the sentence with a frown. "No problem. Release the kid when he wakes up. He'll be a handful; you don't wanna deal with him longer than necessary. He can stay with me."

Bruce furrows his brow as he turns to the man beside him. "Are you sure, Tony?"

"Isn't it what you always implied me to do?" Tony asks back, staring at the sleeping kid with a blank face. "It's gonna be only for a few days anyway, just until he recovers."

"Yes, but-"

"But what, Bruce?" Tony raises his voice as he suddenly turns to the scientist. "Do I think it's a good idea? Of course not! Am I capable of taking care of a kid? Absolutely not! Wouldn't Peter deserve someone better? He sure would! But I can't let him back on the streets, Bruce. I just can't. So yes, he'll be probably emotionally scarred for the rest of his life, if he stays with me, but right now that's the only option I can offer. Maybe he survives a few days with me."

He decides not to tell his friend that he already offered the kid to stay, but he said no. Maybe he should tell him. Because right now Bruce can't stop grinning and it makes Tony uncomfortable. Bruce is so naïve, he has no idea how hard this is gonna be. For both him and Peter.

"I think it's wonderful, Tony," the scientist smiles and pats his shoulder.

Tony shakes his head in disbelief. "I'm not so sure, buddy. I mean it's me. Tony Stark. The very definition of recklessness and irresponsibility. No one would ever trust me with a kid."

"Yet here you are, taking responsibility instead of running from it," Bruce says and his stupid smile refuses to leave his face.

Tony just rolls his eyes, deciding to let it go. He should try to convince his friend how wrong he is to be this optimistic, but he's too tired for that. "Okay, I need to do one more thing before I talk to Peter, though."

* * *

Tony asks Karen to give him the location of the warehouse where Peter stays and he drives to Queens. He wants to pick up the kid's stuff and bring it all over to the Tower, so when Peter moves in – yes, temporarily, but still –, his belongings will be there waiting for him. Tony doesn't really know what to expect, probably books, some basic tech and things Peter needs for school. Maybe some personal items, photos of his family and other memories.

He feels a bit awkward about what he's going do. He'll practically intrude into the kid's private life without asking for permission. He wouldn't be happy if someone, a stranger walked into his penthouse and snooped around. Not that Tony would be a stranger. He's the only one who knows Peter's secrets. Besides Bruce, of course, but that's not the point, is it?

However, the kid is no shape to collect his stuff himself and there might be things that he'll need while he's staying at the Tower. So it has to be done.

Truth is bringing over Peter's stuff isn't the only thing Tony hasn't asked the kid about. He hasn't asked Peter if he wants to move in with him, either. Yes, he knows the boy is still sleeping in the med bay, so technically Tony couldn't talk to him. And he decided not to ask but order him to stay, right? He decided to act like a responsible adult and to made this decision himself. Although he still has some doubts, he guesses it's the right thing to do and maybe he should have done it earlier. Instead of waiting for Peter to come to his senses and accept help.

But it still makes him worried that the kid might not want that. Tony invited him to the Tower a few times before and Peter never came. He offered him to stay for a few days and the kid went back into his damned warehouse instead. Maybe when Tony tells him that he needs to stay for a few days until he recovers, Peter will run away screaming, broken leg or not.

This possibility scares Tony. He honestly doesn't know what he would do if the kid refused to stay. He did say no last time, so he might really not take it well when Tony tells him that it is already decided and it's not up for discussion this time.

Fortunately, he has no more time to dwell on it, because he arrives at the very warehouse where Peter stays according to Karen. Tony gets out of his car and takes a look around. Holy shit. This place is awful. There are about a dozen of abandoned warehouses, all of them are old and ruined, the doors and windows are broken or missing. Some of the buildings don't even have a roof. The grass has grown tall all over the place and there's garbage lying around everywhere. Only rats and stray cats would come here. And drug addicts. Criminals. No one with good intentions. This place is definitely not suitable for any kid.

Tony looks up at the three-story building in front of him. It looks unremarkable behind the three bigger ones, and has more broken than missing windows. This one seems the least uninviting and the least ruined of all the buildings around. Good choice. If an abandoned warehouse can be a good choice at all.

The man touches the side of his tinted glasses. "Friday, is Karen sure this is the one?"

"Yes, boss, Peter stays on the second floor."

Tony frowns, still unable to stomach the thought of Peter sleeping here every night. He shouldn't be surprised, though. Peter told him he lived in a deserted warehouse. He should have expected something like this. But seeing it with his own eyes is still shocking.

"Okay, going in. Keep a watch out for me, will ya?"

He enters and grimaces again seeing debris and more garbage everywhere. Dust and dirt cover everything. No one would ever suspect someone actually lives in here. He has some trouble finding a way up to the second floor, but Friday helps him out and he soon finds himself in an open area that has served as the kid's home for months now.

Peter practically lives in a corner. There's an old mattress there with a pile of blankets. Above the mattress, there are some photos pinned to the wall. Photos of people who Tony doesn't recognize but guesses they're Peter's parents, uncle and aunt. People looking blissfully happy, smiling for the camera. Birthdays, vacations, school plays. Fragments of the kid's old life when he had a family like every child should.

Tony looks away, ignoring the weird, stinging sensation in his eyes.

There are a few clothes lying on the floor. And there's a small stash of food: sandwiches, granola bars, chocolate and other snacks. A few water bottles. Books and computer parts lie around a window, the area with the most natural light. The window is broken and when Tony walks closer, he notices dark droplets of dried blood on the sharp edges. He remembers the cuts on Peter's knuckles when he went after the man who had hit his aunt. Tony swallows hard.

Then he sighs and opens the duffel bag he has brought with him to collect the kid's stuff. He honestly doesn't know what he expected. The kid did tell him he was staying in an abandoned building. What did Tony think? That it would look like a five-star hotel? Or at least like a cheap motel?

But hearing about it and seeing it with his own eyes… well, definitely not the same. It's shocking. Devastating. Horrible. Tragic.

He might have felt bad earlier when he realized he hadn't asked Peter about the moving. But fuck, he'll never ask! The kid has no say in this anymore. Tony won't let Peter live in this fucking place any longer. Kid's gonna stay at the Tower from now on, whether he likes it or not. End of story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fear not, it's not the end of our story, though. I really hope you liked this chapter, I love Tony. I mean I love writing Tony, haha. Anyway, let me know what you think, please? Reviews mean everything to me.  
> The next chapter will be Peter's POV, stay tuned!


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends, here's what you have been waiting for: a new chapter! It's gonna be really emotional, but this is what you all wanted, right? You know, the talk? That talk between Tony and Peter? Well, I finally finished it. And it's long, longer than I expected. I hope I didn't make too many mistakes.
> 
> Thanks again for the comments, kudos and bookmarks, I love you guys!
> 
> Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel. I wish.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

"I think you should go with the car accident. That's probably the most believable explanation for the broken bones," Mr. Stark muses while pushing Peter's wheelchair along the corridor in the med bay.

The boy hates the idea of sitting in a damned wheelchair but he can't use crutches with his wrist also in a cast. He would like to go back to his place, curl into a ball and not come out until his injuries heal. That's what he always does. But he knows this time it would be pretty complicated in his condition, to say the least. He might be able to deal with cuts, stab wounds, bullet grazes and bruises in the warehouse, but a leg _and_ a wrist in cast is different. Not that they hurt, but they're quite uncomfortable and make moving around pretty challenging.

Still, Peter would love to go back to his place, but he wasn't asked. When he woke up from his sleep just half an hour ago, Dr. Banner told him he was free to go as long as he took it easy. Which Peter promised, of course. He just needed some clothes to change into. Before he could have even asked, Mr. Stark presented him fresh clothes: a shirt with the logo of some kind of old rock band and sweatpants. The clothes obviously came from the man's own wardrobe again.

And then Mr. Stark said he would take Peter into his apartment. The boy immediately opened his mouth to protest. Despite the difficulties, he wanted to return to the warehouse.

"Would you rather stay here, kid?" Mr. Stark raised an eyebrow, gesturing at his bed in the med bay. So according to the man, the warehouse wasn't even an option.

Peter just shook his head in defeat. Something in Mr. Stark's eyes told him no to object. And honestly, he was way too tired to put up a fight. Healing has always taken a lot out of him.

"Car accident?" Peter asks back, grinning as the wheelchair is pushed toward the elevator. "I have the worst luck in the world. I miss school all the time because I always have the flu and now a car accident?"

"Well, you can always follow my lead, kid. Just say the word and I'll call a press conference right away. You can reveal your identity to the world and you'll never have to make up cover stories again," Mr. Stark says with a smirk.

Peter rolls his eyes. "Car accident it is. Julia's eldest son, Jake, who I share a room with by the way, just got his driving license. He was so proud. He picked me up from school this afternoon. But when one of his friends texted him, he checked his phone while driving and didn't notice a red light and we crashed."

"I can't imagine what idiot could give that dumbass a license," Mr. Stark frowns as the elevator doors open.

"I know, right?" Peter grins again. "So that's why I disappeared from school today. I mean when that monster showed up, I felt sick and sneaked out into the bathroom. I think only Ned noticed that, though… Anyway, then Jake texted me and I went with him."

"I don't know if I should be proud or worried, kid. I mean the way you come up with cover stories is impressive. And scary. On the other hand, no one would ever believe you, so it doesn't really matter," the man shrugs staring disinterestedly at the wall of the elevator.

"Why would you say that?" Peter looks up at Mr. Stark disappointed. He's been pretty proud at himself for making up a story this fast.

"The story is good but the way you're telling it… Just one pro tip, kid. Don't stare at the floor all along while you're telling your story. Avoiding eye contact is the number one mistake people make when they lie. Not that I would want to teach you how to lie. You shouldn't lie. Bad thing. You're a bad child. Don't lie. Ever."

"Not even to protect my secret identity?"

Mr. Stark hesitates before answering. Then he looks at Peter. "Maybe that's an exception. The only exception. But be careful because like I said you suck at lying."

"Doesn't matter because most people ignore me anyway," the boy says with a forced smile. Like it's a good thing. "No one will ask questions. Maybe just Ned. Yeah, he will. I need to be prepared when I talk to him. I texted him earlier but that was easy. Talking will be tough."

"Maybe you should consider telling him at least some of your secrets," Mr. Stark offers as the elevator doors open and he pushes the wheelchair into his living room. "You say he's your best friend. He'll understand. And you'll feel better, kid."

Peter nods. Yeah, it would be really nice to share a secret or two with Ned. To be able to talk to him without being extra careful all the time, being afraid of letting something slip. In the past few months, there have been several times when he avoided Ned. He really likes his friend but he was so scared that he might accidentally blow his cover that avoiding Ned seemed safer. Even if he felt lonelier. Yeah, it would be really great to talk to Ned again. Honestly, freely.

Maybe later. Because now he's staying with Mr. Stark for the time being and he has bigger problems. Like figuring out how long he's gonna stay here. Until his casts come off? Even with his healing factor, that will probably take a few days. And how will this whole thing work? What will Mr. Stark do when he has to work? Will he leave Peter alone in his penthouse? Or will someone come to stay with him? Like Dr. Banner? That would be so cool!

So many questions. But Peter doesn't have the courage to actually ask them.

"Right, kid, is it okay if you settle on the couch for now? You can watch a movie or text your friends, whatever kids do at your age," Mr. Stark says.

"Couch is fine."

The man pushes the wheelchair as close to the couch as possible and offers his arm to help Peter. He doesn't really need it, he could push himself up but he doesn't want to be rude and accepts the help. Mr. Stark also helps him propping up his broken leg on a pillow and then gives him the remote. "Here. But you can always ask Friday, one of her jobs is to act as a remote. Are you hungry? You haven't had dinner yet."

"I'm good, thanks," Peter answers and turns on the TV, absentmindedly flipping through the channels.

He _is_ hungry. But he doesn't want to be a problem for Mr. Stark. He's gonna wait until the man leaves and he'll skip into the kitchen to find something to eat. He's sure Mr. Stark has something to do. Like a business dinner or he's gonna meet friends. Or he might have a date. Isn't he dating with Miss Potts who he named as the CEO of SI? Or he might go into his lab. But he won't stay here with Peter. Mr. Stark knows he's perfectly capable of taking care of himself.

"Well, I am starving," Mr. Stark shrugs. "Friday dear, order pizza. The regular. But two this time."

"Certainly, boss," the AI answers.

"Or would you rather eat Chinese?" the man suddenly turns to Peter. "Thai? Indian? I forgot to ask, sorry."

"Pizza is fine," the boy gives him a nod, forgetting he claimed he wasn't hungry.

Mr. Stark walks into the kitchen and pours himself coffee. "Do you want to drink something, kid?"

"Water is good, thanks, Mr. Stark."

"Are you sure? You can have soda, too. Or hot chocolate. I might even have tea somewhere, I remember Pepper left here some of her exotic Chinese stuff," the man says rummaging through the cupboards.

"Water is really fine, Mr. Stark. Or soda."

"Okay then", Mr. Stark replies and grabs a soda from the refrigerator.

Peter watches him suspicious as he hands him the drink. Then he sits down into an armchair and sets down his mug on the coffee table, beside a stack of documents. Must be some kind of work stuff.

They watch TV in silence, but only after a minute or two, Mr. Stark turns to Peter. "Do you need anything else? A blanket, maybe? Aren't you cold, kid? Friday, turn on the heating."

Without waiting for a response, the man is already up, grabbing a blanket from a stool and drapes it over the boy.

Okay, Peter is really confused now. What is going on? Yes, Mr. Stark has always been nice to him; he brought Peter here when he got injured (twice now) and when he had that breakdown. He made him a suit. He offered him help. And when he stayed here, he even made him breakfast. So he shouldn't be surprised that Mr. Stark is kind to him now, too. And it feels so nice.

Peter has got used to being alone in the last months. No one asks him if he's hungry or what he would like to eat. No one asks him if he's cold and brings him a blanket. No one cares about him. And it sucks. But he has accepted it. He hates it, he thinks it's really unfair and terrible, but he has come to terms with it.

And now here's someone actually paying attention to him. Caring for him. It's something that Peter has always wished for. Someone to be with him, help him, talk to him, ease his loneliness. So he wouldn't feel like the most unwanted, the most ignored, invisible kid. Yes, he knows he could blame himself, too. It was his decision to stay alone after May's death. To hide from the system and the world. And he doesn't regret his decision, he still believes it's been the right thing to do but gosh, it doesn't mean it's easy to be utterly alone!

And he's really grateful that Mr. Stark is here with him now and honestly, he's grateful that he didn't have to go back into that cold, empty warehouse. Staying at the Tower, lounging on this couch with a soda in his hand and waiting for his pizza is way better than the warehouse. Better than lying on that dirty mattress waiting for his injuries to heal. He knows that and he is very, very grateful.

But he also knows the better he's feeling here now, the harder it'll be to go back. Because when those few days are up that Mr. Stark mentioned earlier, when Peter recovers, he has to leave. He'll be back in that damned abandoned building, being cold and hungry and lonely. How could he enjoy his time at the Tower when all he can think of is his inevitable leaving?

"Are you okay? Or do you need another blanket?" Mr. Stark asks breaking into his chaotic thoughts. "How's the leg? Isn't that pillow too soft? Maybe it's too soft, I picked a wrong one. We could try another one." He quickly gets up, grabs some cushions and walks to the boy.

"Stop!" Peter blurts out before he could stop himself.

The man comes to an immediate halt and stares at the boy surprised.

Peter lowers his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark. I'm so sorry. That was rude. I didn't mean it. I am really grateful for everything. I am. You've helped me a lot and… thank you, sir. I think I haven't even said that yet. I'm sorry."

The man sighs, sits down on the couch beside Peter, gently patting his right leg. "Kid, you thanked me like a thousand times already, so don't stress about it, okay? Now come on, tell me. What should I stop? Help me out here, Peter, I'm new to this, I don't know what I'm doing."

The boy remains silent. He's dangerously close to crying, those damned tears are already in his eyes again and he doesn't want Mr. Stark to see how pathetic he is. He should consider himself lucky, he knows that, being here at the Tower. Yet here he is yelling at Mr. Stark. He has already made a very bad impression on the man; he shouldn't make it worse with childish crying.

But Mr. Stark is still sitting there beside him, still resting his hand on his leg. Peter definitely owes him an explanation. So he does his best to swallow back those tears and slowly raises his head, ignoring how red his eyes must look.

"Stop hovering, Mr. Stark, please. I am really grateful that you let me stay here and you are so kind to me. But I know when my time is up, I have to leave and it'll be so much harder, if you are this nice. I mean maybe I should just go into the guest room and stay there until I recover. It's gonna be fine. And I eat and drink whatever I get; you don't have to ask me. I know I don't have the right to ask more, sir, but if you could be a bit less nice to me, that would make it easier."

"Less nice?" Mr. Stark asks baffled.

"Yes. I appreciate your concern, sir and your kindness, but this will make it much harder for me to go back to my life in a few days," Peter explains lowering his head again. He can feel the tears threatening to fall once again.

If it's possible, Mr. Stark sounds even more confused than before. "What are you talking about, kid? Why would you leave in a few days? You're not going anywhere."

"You said… before… when I spent the night here. That I could stay for a few days," Peter says weakly, looking up.

He clearly remembers Mr. Stark's words. He said a few days. And Peter said no for the very same reason why he thinks it's gonna be so hard to leave now. Because it takes no time to get used to a better life and then going back into his world will be almost unbearable.

Mr. Stark gives him a small smile that Peter cannot understand. What is there to smile about?

"Okay, listen up, kid," the man starts not looking puzzled anymore. No, he looks relieved but Peter doesn't understand why. "I wanted to have this discussion with you a little bit later, like when you're all settled and fed, but I guess we should do this now before you freak out even more. First of all, you're right, I said a few days back then, but that was before your unfortunate encounter with Kong. I've known you for like what? A few weeks now? And in those few weeks I found you injured and knocked out on a rooftop twice. Twice, Peter. I don't wanna go through that again, kid. I'm an old man with a heart that can't tolerate much stress. And you know how stressful my life is already. I can't take more. And if you stay here, I can keep an eye on you and maybe, just maybe you'll get in trouble less. Which would help my heart, you see.

"And second of all, I never wanted you to leave, Pete," he continues softly. "Not even when I said you could stay a few days. I just didn't want to overwhelm you. I had offered you my help a few times before and you had always said no. I thought you didn't want me to help at all. You lived on your own and you didn't want me to interfere with your life. So I thought if I had told you to stay for good, you would have freaked out and run away. I just didn't want to scare you off."

Peter stares at the man as if to make sure he's serious. Because if Mr. Stark really wants him to stay for good… If he doesn't want to send him away… can it be possible?

"I thought you offered to help me because you just wanted to be nice," he mutters.

"So you didn't think I was serious?" Mr. Stark chuckles.

"No… yes? I mean you're a very busy man, Mr. Stark. You have the SI, you are an inventor and an Avenger. I just can't see how I could fit into your life, sir."

"Honestly? I can't see it either, Pete," the man smiles again. "But let me tell you, I can't see how _I_ fit into your life, either. I mean I'm not sure it's me who you really need. I had a terrible father, I didn't have any good role model and I know nothing about kids. I'm afraid I'll mess up, Peter, really, I'm terrified. But... having said that I'm sure I want you to be in my life, kid."

Peter eyes him hesitantly. "You don't have to do this, Mr. Stark. Really. I can go back to my life, it's fine, I'm gonna be okay. You don't have to feel responsible for me just because I'm a kid. I can take care of myself."

"I know, Pete," the man says. "But I want to do this. I am serious. You don't believe me? Do you know what those papers are on the table?" he asks pointing at the stack of sheets.

Peter shakes his head.

"Those are documents to become your guardian. I have already signed them. And you should check out your room, bud. That's not a guest room anymore, that's your room. That's the official name. Come, let me help," Mr. Stark says enthusiastically, helping Peter back into the wheelchair and he pushes him to his room.

He opens the door revealing the few items Peter had back in the warehouse. Did Mr. Stark go there to pick them up? Peter's mouth falls open as he takes a look around.

"You can decorate this room the way you want, kid, it's all yours," the man beside him continues. "It's your home, Pete. You never ever have to leave."

The boy is staring at the room and he notices his books and computer parts on the desk, his few clothes neatly folded on the couch and his photos already in frames on the wall. How could Mr. Stark arrange all this in such a short time? Peter can't stop the tears from falling anymore but he doesn't really care.

Mr. Stark crouches down beside him. "So what do you say, bud? Ready to stay with this old man for good?"

Peter glances at him through tearful eyes. He can see Mr. Stark smiling, but he can also see the uncertainty in the man's eyes. He's obviously waiting for Peter's answer and he's not entirely sure what to expect.

But Peter can help him with that. Because his answer is clear.

"Yes, Mr. Stark! I would love to stay here!" he says happily and jumps into the man's arms. And when Mr. Stark envelopes him in a tight hug, Peter finally feels he's home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And they lived happily ever after.
> 
> If you think it feels like a happy, fluffy last chapter... Well, that was the plan. This is where I wanted to get when I started this story. To give these babies a happy ending. (Fun fact: I thought I could make it happen in 7-9 chapters. Haha, how naive I was.)
> 
> But honestly, I'm not ready to say goodbye to these guys. I think there's still so much potential in this story. I mean they start a new life now and that must be challenging. There's still a lot to tell, don't you think?
> 
> So let's call this the last chapter of Phase One, okay?
> 
> Thank you for reading and see you next time!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely readers, I'm back with a new chapter. I'm so happy that you loved the previous one and you would like me to continue this story. I have plenty of ideas, so expect a lot more chapters!
> 
> But first, enjoy this fluffy one. Because after all the hurt/comfort in the previous chapters, our two favorite babies definitely deserve some fluff, right? So let's start Phase Two, shall we?
> 
> Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel. I wish.

The next morning Peter opens his eyes and looks up at the ceiling. For a long minute, he feels confused because he doesn't know where he is. He was staring at the mold on the ceiling in the warehouse so long that he still remembers every little detail of the gross pattern. But this ceiling is different. It's white and clean. Right. He's at the Tower. Where he has a real bed and not just an old mattress. That must be the reason why he has had such a good sleep. He even forgot about his injuries.

He smiles and closes his eyes again enjoying the warmth and softness of the blankets and pillows. People don't appreciate beds enough. They feel like heaven.

"Good morning, Peter," Friday cheerfully greets him. "Boss is already in the kitchen, if you would like to join him for breakfast."

Peter's smile grows even bigger. Sleeping in bed _and_ breakfast? Could this day get any better?

"Thank you, Friday. I'd love that."

"I'll let him know."

As the boy slowly gets out of bed, he wonders how much his life has changed in the last 24 hours. Yesterday he woke up in the warehouse with the same thought as every morning since Aunt May's death: how much he wished his life was normal like before. Peter has never wished for too much, he has never wanted to live in luxury. Never in a penthouse in the middle of Manhattan. He wanted normal things: like a place to stay, enough food and most of all, at least one person with him who he could talk to.

And now it seems he has got everything he wanted. And even more: that one person who has found him is Tony Stark! His all-time idol! Life was shit yesterday, but today? It' freaking awesome! Maybe too good to be true. Actually, Peter thinks he might wake up any minute now and then he will find himself back at the warehouse. He wouldn't be surprised. Considering his luck and all the shit that happened to him, it wouldn't be shocking.

But even if it's only a dream and in real life he's back where he belongs: on the old mattress, he should enjoy this dream as long as he can. He can face reality later.

The door opens and Mr. Stark enters with a smile on his face.

"Morning, kid. Friday says you're ready for breakfast."

The man walks to the wheelchair in the corner and pushes it to the bed.

"You know I could just use my web shooters and swing into the kitchen," Peter suggests jokingly.

"Yeah, I kinda like all the fragile things in the apartment, so let's not risk them," Mr. Stark winks and helps him into the wheelchair.

Peter doesn't know what is more embarrassing. The fact that he needs Mr. Stark's help or that the man is so annoyingly patient with him. He should be grateful, he knows that and he is. It's just so awful to feel this helpless. Pathetic. Isn't he a superhero?

"I hate this so much," he grunts when he's finally settled in the wheelchair.

"I understand," Mr. Stark says as he pushes him out of the room. "But don't forget about your advanced healing. Without that you'd need this chair for weeks and not only for a few days. Consider yourself lucky. Living in casts for weeks is not fun, I can assure you."

Peter has always considered Mr. Stark a superhero. An invincible man. Power, strength and confidence radiate off of him all the time. It's easy to forget that there's a mere human in the Iron suit, a human who is vulnerable.

"So what do you want for breakfast?" Mr. Stark asks when they arrive at the kitchen.

"Could you make waffles, maybe?" Peter asks shyly. "If it's not too much trouble."

"Waffles coming up," Mr. Stark grins.

Peter loves how real this dream feels. And how amazingly normal it seems. Sitting at the table eating sweet, warm waffles, while Mr. Stark is drinking his coffee next to him. How utterly normal it is. The best dream he has ever had. He hopes he'll never wake up.

* * *

And no matter how much time passes, the dream doesn't want to end. Not that Peter would complain.

Because after breakfast they're just chilling on the couch, talking about everyday stuff. Mr. Stark asks the boy about school, his job at the store and patrolling as Spiderman. Peter guesses the man carefully tries to avoid sensitive issues like his family. But Peter doesn't mind. It's something he doesn't want to talk about anyway. At least, not for now.

He glances at the clock on the wall. It's already 11am. Shouldn't Mr. Stark be somewhere?

"I'm right where I wanna be, kid," the man beside him chuckles.

Shit, did he say that out loud?

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark," the boy apologizes blushing. "I just… I just thought you must have something to do at SI… or with the Avengers. And I don't want to hold you up. I'm good. I mean I'm sure I can manage if you need to go. You don't have to stay with me. Not that I would want to tell you what to do, this is your home, of course you can stay if you want, I just-"

"Relax, kid" Mr. Stark laughs again. "I have no SI today. Or Avengers. The Avengers are not even in the country anyway."

"Really? Where are they?" Peter asks in awe. How cool is it to discuss the Avengers with Iron Man?

"Fanboying already, huh?" Mr. Stark snorts. "Who is you favorite Avenger, kid? Come on, out with it!"

Peter rolls his eyes. "Iron Man, of course. That's the correct answer, right?"

"As long as you live under my roof, yes," the man grins. "But I guess Bruce is a close second, right?"

"Dr. Banner is so awesome!" Peter starts. "His thesis on-"

"Okay, okay, enough," Mr. Stark waves him off. "Thank God, the others are not at the Tower now. I don't think I could hold you back from harassing them. On second thought, I'm pretty sure they would love that. Anyway, Cap and Sam are on a military base somewhere in Europe, training utterly normal, unenhanced soldiers. Poor guys. Romanoff is in Kazakhstan, undercover mission. Wait, that was three days ago. She might be somewhere else now. Barton is staying with his family for a while and Thor… probably not even on the planet. Are you happy now?"

Peter's mouth falls open, his eyes grow wide. "It's… so… awesome. So… cool," he stammers.

Mr. Stark sits back with his eyes closed, hands clasped behind his neck and a smug grin on his face. "Yeah, I guess."

"I'm sorry to bother you, boss," Friday announces. "Miss Potts asked me to inform you that she can take over your business trip to Singapore, as you requested. She is going to call you later."

"Okay, thanks, Fri," Mr. Stark says launching to his feet and he walks to the kitchen to refill his mug.

Peter feels a sudden urge to jump up and try to assure the man again that he can take care of himself and Mr. Stark doesn't have to reschedule his whole life because of him. Iron Man might not have a mission for now, but Mr. Stark still has SI and Peter doesn't want him to put everything on hold just because he's here. He doesn't want to be a burden.

"You should go, sir," he blurts out.

Mr. Stark turns to him with a now full mug in his hand and raises his eyebrows.

"I mean to Singapore," Peter quickly clarifies. He certainly didn't mean that Mr. Stark should leave now. "I'll be alright. You don't have to worry about me. You don't have to stay with me."

"I thought we already discussed that," the man shakes his head smiling. "I kinda start feeling bad, kid; you always want to kick me out."

This does make Peter jump up. No, that's not what he meant! Of course not. He wouldn't dare to imply anything like that. And he needs to make Mr. Stark understand that.

But as he inattentively puts weight on his injured leg, hot pain flares up along the broken limb and he drops back on the couch whimpering. He squeezes his eyes shut and breathes heavily waiting for the pain to stop.

He can hear Mr. Stark running back and crouching down beside him. "Are you okay, Pete? How are you feeling? Should I call Bruce? Talk to me, kid," he begs anxiously.

"I'm fine," he mutters. And he is. At least, he's getting there as the pain slowly fades away. He opens his eyes. Mr. Stark is there, worry written all over his face. Peter gives him a small, reassuring smile. "I really am. It's better now. I just forgot about the stupid leg."

Mr. Stark nods unimpressed and settles back on the couch next to Peter. The boy rolls his eyes, feeling annoyed with himself. So much for convincing Mr. Stark that he can go on with his life, because Peter doesn't require all of his attention.

"I'm sorry," he murmurs.

The man snorts. "For what this time?"

"I don't want to be a burden, Mr. Stark," the boy explains quietly, lowering his head. "I feel like I'm keeping you from living your life."

Mr. Stark laughs. That makes Peter's eyes shoot up at him. Is Mr. Stark laughing at him? Is he mocking him? Here he is telling how guilty he feels for imposing and Mr. Stark is laughing?

"Aw, kid," the man smiles at him. "You're not keeping me from anything. You're not a burden. You know what would have been a burden, though? That trip to Singapore. Can you imagine how boring it would be to spend four days in conference rooms? As soon as Pepper told me to go, I started to look for an excuse to back out. And you provided me one, so thank you for saving me from a super boring trip. And Pepper's going to Shanghai anyway, so she doesn't mind. I'm pretty sure she knew it was only a matter of time before I found a way out. She knows me well."

"So Miss Potts knows about me," Peter remarks. He doesn't dare to ask about her opinion, though.

"Yes. And she would love to meet you," Mr. Stark says. Peter flinches back. "Oh, kid, don't give me that look! It's not a bad thing. Yesterday I told her everything because I needed her help with the documents. And to keep the press away. She's much better at that stuff than I am. She's much better at many things, but that's not the point now… Anyway, she was shocked. And worried. Because of you, not me," he quickly clarifies, which earns a confused look from Peter. "She thinks I'm irresponsible and if this whole thing doesn't work out because of me, you'll get hurt. She's right. Like I told you before, I'm not sure I'm the one you need, Pete."

The man gives him a sad smile, pats him on his right leg and then walks back to the kitchen to grab his coffee that has probably gone cold by now. For a few minutes, none of them says anything.

This is all so fucked-up, Peter thinks. He hates the idea of people saying mean things to Mr. Stark because of him. Mr. Stark doesn't deserve that. He has been only nice to him. Peter doesn't want him to feel bad when he does the right thing. It's not fair.

He looks up at the man. "But you just want to help me."

Peter wants to say so much more. He wants to thank him, he wants to say how grateful he is. He knows he has already said that a thousand times, but it's not enough. It'll never be enough.

He doesn't have a chance to say anything, though. Because Mr. Stark is already back on the couch next to him, grabbing a tablet from the coffee table and giving Peter a huge smile.

"Alright, kid. We have work to do. We need to order you a bunch of stuff. Starting with a new wardrobe. Come on, let's see all the available Iron Man merch."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do you think? Let me know, please, you know I love comments!
> 
> In the next chapter we will have a guest, one of the Avengers will make an appearance. Can you guess which one? No, it's not Bruce this time.
> 
> And if you can't get enough of Irondad & Spiderson, check out my oneshot that I posted a few days ago. Okay, that's shameless self-promotion, I know and I'm sorry, but it would mean a lot if you read that, too.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! So here's the next episode, featuring another Avenger. It's a pretty fun chapter, no whump. For now ;)
> 
> Anyway, I'd like to thank you all for the comments, bookmarks and kudos.
> 
> Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel. I wish.

"I need your help."

There's silence at the other end of the line. Tony waits a few more seconds, but there's nothing. "Barton, are you there?"

"I'm here, man, sorry I'm just still processing what you said."

"Cut the crap, Barton," Tony grumbles.

"You know, it doesn't happen every day that Tony Stark needs my help. Needs anyone's help, to be honest," Clint laughs.

"I said cut the crap, William Tell," Tony complains again, then sighs. "You know what? It was a bad idea. I shouldn't have called. Enjoy the farm. Bye."

"Wait, wait, wait, Stark, don't hang up!" Clint asks, suddenly turning serious. "What is it? Why did you call me? Is it a mission? I know the others are all out of the country, right? That's why you called me?"

"I called you because you have expertise that the others don't."

"Archery?"

Tony rolls his eyes. "You have a family, Barton. And I need advice. Family advice."

"Oh my God, is Pepper pregnant? Congratulations, man!"

"Pepper is not pregnant," Tony states firmly. Then he thinks about it. "At least… I don't know about it." No, she's not. How could she? "Geez, she's not, don't mess with my head, Barton!"

"I'm just confused, man," Clint admits. "You said family and-"

"I kinda took in a kid," Tony interrupts him. It still feels so weird to say it, as if he's talking about someone else. But he doesn't have time to dwell on that now. "He's staying with me. He's 15 and I don't want to mess it up, Barton, because God knows kid went through way more shit in his life than anyone should have. I wanna do things right. So tell me, what do I need to do?"

"Whoa, Stark, you can't just drop that bomb and expect me not to ask anything," Clint protests. "How did it happen? Who's that kid? Why did you take him in? I want answers. Now."

"And I want advice, Barton," Tony growls. "Kid can wake up any minute; I don't have time for storytelling. Friday, alert me when Peter wakes up. So, Robin Hood, what should I do?"

"Tell me the story. I need the whole picture to give you the best advice."

Tony's not sure if that's true, Barton is probably just curious. He's hungry for gossip that he can discuss with Natasha on their next mission together.

"Fine," Tony says, knowing he has no choice. "On one condition, though. You're not telling the others. Not even Romanoff. I'll tell them myself when the time is right."

"Am I really the first one to hear this?" Clint asks amused.

"Well, Bruce already knows."

"Of course. You and your nerd BFF."

"He had to patch up the kid when he was shot. And when he kinda fell from a building."

"What? This must be the craziest story I've heard lately. Tell me everything! Wait, I'll grab some popcorn."

"Shut up, Barton. You know what? I don't even need your help. Friday, order some books on parenting."

"Okay, fine," Clint says defeated. "Of course I'll help. I'm not saying I'm father of the year, pretty sure I'm not but I think my kids are happy and that should mean something."

"Yes," Tony answers, calming down. "I know. That's why I called you."

And then he tells Clint Peter's story. Tony tells how he went after Spiderman, how he met him during a fight, how the young superhero got injured and how Tony brought him to the Tower. He tells how shocked he was when he realized there was a kid under the red mask. He figured out who the kid was and it shocked him even more. A lonely boy who lost all his family and his home. And he still exceled at school and fought crime at nights, acting as if everything was fine.

Tony tells Clint that he wanted to help the kid but didn't know how. He made him a better suit that provided him much more protection than the original one. He told Peter to come to the Tower whenever he wanted. But Tony couldn't rest. He felt it was not enough. He knew what the kid really needed, though. He was just afraid that he wasn't the right person to give him that. Then he realized he didn't really have a choice, he had to do the right thing. So he pulled himself together, pushed his worries aside and took Peter in. And here he is now, desperately trying to figure out how to do this right.

"Okay, first of all, what you've done is amazing, man," Clint says after hearing the story.

"Shocking, right?"

"Well, you're a jerk, Stark but your heart is in the right place."

"Thanks, I guess."

"You're still a jerk."

"Yeah, you mentioned. So? What do I do?"

"Okay, here comes parenting 101," Clint sighs. "Maybe you should consult with my wife, she's better at this. But for now I can tell you two things. The most important is to make sure the kid feels safe. Make sure he feels that he can trust you, you're always there to help him whatever he needs. That kid was alone for a very long time. He needs to know there's someone, an adult who is there for him now, who supports and guides him. Who takes responsibility for him. And now he can be what he should have been all along: just a kid.

"And second, set up some boundaries. Maybe you wanna play the cool dad, Stark but what the kid needs now is a reliable parent. Or guardian. Whatever. He doesn't need a friend to hang out with. I mean you can hang out with him, of course, just set up some rules, too. So your lives have some kind of structure. It's important. Kids would never admit, but rules actually make them feel safer. Because they know what to expect. Peter lived without rules, though and he sounds like a really nice, smart kid, but don't be surprised, if he gets upset when you tell him about the rules.

Tony sighs. This is not gonna be easy. He never thought it would be, but he secretly hoped that Clint would tell him something like _'don't worry about anything, man, everything's gonna be just fine'_. No such luck though. Parenting obviously means a lot of work.

"Okay, thank you, Barton. I appreciate your help," he says, suddenly feeling drained.

"You're gonna do great, Stark," Clint says with a smile in his voice. "If you need anything, call me, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks again, man. Have fun with your family."

"You, too. Bye," Clint says and hangs up before Tony could comprehend what the archer has just said. ' _You too'?_

* * *

"A curfew?!" Peter asks in a high-pitched voice.

Tony groans. This is exactly what he expected and worried about at the same time. That the kid wouldn't take it well if Tony threw some rules at him. Stupid Barton and his shitty ideas. On the other hand, Tony actually agrees with Clint. Kids need some boundaries. That's how life works, right? He just loathes the idea of Peter hating him. Clint was right; it would be so much easier to play the cool parent. But easy doesn't necessarily mean right.

Tony tried to do everything to make this inevitable conversation about setting up rules easier. He showed Peter his lab and said they could work together on some upgrades on the Iron suits. The boy practically froze. And then a huge smile appeared on his face.

"Are you serious, Mr. Stark? For real?" Peter asked in awe.

"Sure, kid, you showed some talent with those web shooters of yours, so I'm wondering what you could do with my suit. I have plenty, so why not? Not that you should start to dismantle one now, always ask me first before you actually take apart a suit, okay?"

"You don't need to worry about me tinkering much in here anytime soon," Peter answered sadly, raising up his wrist still in cast. He looked miserable like a kicked puppy.

"Just a few more days, kid, be patient," Tony smiled fondly and ruffled the boy's hair. He immediately regretted the move, though and took a step back. Maybe that was too much. Too intimate. They weren't there yet.

His eyes shot at the kid, worrying about his reaction. Tony still remembered when Peter had flinched under his touch. That had been a very different situation, he knew, but still.

However, Peter didn't seem to mind Tony's gesture at all. He was deep in a one-sided conversation with Dum-E and his mind was already running wild, considering possible upgrades on the Iron suit. Tony watched him affectionately. Not every kid would have been happy to play around in his lab, but to his luck, he had found a little nerd under the Spider mask. Tony could already see them spending many long hours here together.

Then he remembered that he had to crush this idyll with those stupid rules. But the sooner he did it, the better. Then they could move on, have pizza for dinner again, watch a movie or two and everything would be fine.

So he brought up the curfew first.

And the kid freaked out.

"Peter, I'm sure every kid in the world has a curfew," Tony tries to reason with the boy, sitting down on a stool next to him.

"But I'm not every kid!" Peter protests.

"I'm aware of that, bud. You're Spiderman. And while all the other kids watch movies, play video games or just text their friends all night, you go after bad guys. Which is exhausting. You need your sleep. And I suggest curfew at 11pm. I think that's fair."

"Criminals don't stop at 11, Mr. Stark," the boy snorts. "And I never go to sleep before 2 or 3 am anyway."

Tony stares at him shocked. That can't be true. Peter might be enhanced but he's a teenager, too and teenagers sleep a lot. And Peter said himself that he needed to sleep enough to heal and stay strong. If he really went to sleep that late (or early) he wouldn't be able to excel at school. Let alone fight criminals.

"3am, huh?" he asks doubtfully. "Would Karen confirm that?"

Peter's narrows his eyes. "That's so not fair. Asking Karen every time you don't believe me. Why care to ask me at all?" he yells.

Tony sighs and folds his head in his arms. Here they are. Their very first fight. They've been living together for what? Two days now? Great. But he can't be the reckless Tony Stark anymore who doesn't give a shit; he can't run away from this, he needs to make this work. There's no other option.

Wow, he aims to be the cool, sensible one in a conversation, the voice of reason. That's a first.

He raises his head and glances at Peter who is sitting with his arms crossed and pouting like a toddler at the edge of throwing a tantrum. Suddenly, all of Tony's frustration evaporates and he has to stop himself from jumping up and hugging the kid. Pouting Peter is the most adorable thing he has ever seen. But he reminds himself that they are having a very serious conversation here, so he forces himself not to smile.

"Peter, I promise not to ask Karen to confirm anything, if you promise to be honest with me. I think that's only fair, given we live together now."

The boy's expression turns neutral. "Alright, Mr. Stark."

"I guess it's not the time of the curfew that is bothering you, but the fact that I have proposed a curfew in the first place, right? But that's something you just need to accept, buddy, I'm sorry. And I believe 11pm sounds pretty reasonable, so let's go with that for now, alright?"

Peter refuses to look at Tony, he's just sitting there with his arms still crossed, stubbornly staring at the wall. He obviously hates all this but he finally gives a nod.

"Moving on. Next rule. Tracker," the man sighs. He can't wait to get over with this, too. Just a few more rules.

"Wait, how many rules do you have?" Peter's eyes suddenly shoot at him.

"I didn't count," Tony shrugs.

"And what if I say no? Will you kick me out? Will you send me back to the streets? Send me to a foster home?" the boy raises an eyebrow, daring Tony to answer.

The man's eyes go wide in disbelief. "Is that what you think? That you just make one bad move or say one bad word and I'll kick you out?"

Tony can't believe this. They might not know each other that well yet, but he doesn't think he has ever given the kid a reason not to trust him. He signed those damned papers! He volunteered to be his guardian! Why does Peter think he's not serious?

Tony leans forward, grasps the kid on the shoulder and looks him in the eye. "Peter, listen, kid. I will never kick you out. Never. That's not an option. I understand you might not believe this right now, maybe it's too early and things happened too fast. But you'll see. Because I promise you'll always have a place here, buddy. And I know you lived on your own, without rules in the last few months. But you need to understand the way you lived was not normal. This, living in the Tower with this old man? It's probably not normal, either, but it's closer to normal that living on the streets. And kids having rules? Newsflash, Pete, that's normal, too."

Tony thinks he could remind the boy that when he lived with his aunt, she probably had rules, too. But he really hopes he doesn't have to go there. It's okay if the kid wants to bring up his family, but Tony doesn't dare to open up those old wounds. At least, not now.

So he desperately hopes that the kid will listen and accept his arguments. And when Peter finally gives him a small nod, he lets out a breath he doesn't remember holding and gently squeezes the boy's shoulder.

"Perfect. So. Tracker. Either we'll put a new one into your suit or I'll inject it under your skin. Your choice," he grins and feels utterly relieved when he can see the kid adorably pouting again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what do you think guys? I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope you enjoyed reading it. I think the next one is going to be fluff again and I might bring in another popular character ;)
> 
> And if you miss the whump, check out my oneshots ;)
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends, I'm back with a new chapter. I'm bringing in a new character; I know you've been waiting for him :)
> 
> As always, thanks for the comments, kudos and bookmarks.
> 
> Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel. I wish.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Peter asks for the hundredth time while he's pacing up and down in the living room, his hands fidgeting. "Maybe I really should have gone to Ned's instead of inviting him here."

While anxiety is radiating off him, Mr. Stark remains annoyingly calm as he pours yet another coffee for himself in the kitchen. "Kid, I thought we were over this. You can't lie. I'm here to back up your cover story in case you freeze. Let's face it, that's a possible scenario. And it's not like I could sit by your side in Ned's room. That would be weird. But here I can linger around without looking creepy. It's my place after all."

"It's just… he'll freak out here."

"He'll freak out anyway when you tell him the story," Mr. Stark shrugs, settling on the couch and propping up his legs on the coffee table.

"You're so not helping," Peter says, narrowing his eyes.

"Kid, you could tell him the truth. He's your best friend, he would understand."

"That I was lying to him all the time? I'm not so sure about that."

"Wouldn't you forgive him if you were in his place?"

Peter thinks about it. Of course, he would forgive him. And Ned is one of the nicest people he knows, so yes, he would surely forgive Peter. He would understand why Peter did it. But he would be disappointed that Peter thought he couldn't come to him with his problems. And Peter doesn't want to make his friend feel bad. So lying it is.

Wow, how proud Aunt May would be now.

No, there's no time for that. Ned will be here soon.

"Are you sure this story will work?" Peter asks Mr. Stark to change the subject.

They came up with a relatively believable cover story last night, after Peter had finally got rid of his casts. Thank God, he didn't go into details about his injuries when he told Ned about the fake car accident. He could never explain how his broken bones healed in a few days.

And now that Dr. Banner cleared Peter, he can go back to school. Which he is looking forward to, much to Mr. Stark's annoyance. Not that the man wouldn't want him to go to school but he can't stop teasing the boy what a nerd he is. But Peter doesn't care. He knows that deep down Mr. Stark is a nerd, too. Just a way cooler one than he is.

Peter has decided to talk to Ned first, before going back to school. It only seems fair. If he can say it's fair at all. Telling more lies to his best friend.

And Mr. Stark has a meeting with the principal and a social worker, so that he can present them the documents about the guardianship. Peter suspects they might not like it, but they can't really do anything about it, it's a done deal now. And Peter has no doubts that Mr. Stark has a few tricks up his sleeve to convince them not to ask questions about why Peter has become his responsibility. Yeah, Mr. Stark has many tricks. From his famous, charming smile to some serious threats disguised as polite wishes. If Mr. Stark wants something, he'll get it. And Peter really hopes that Mr. Stark wants him to stay. At least for a while.

Mr. Stark shrugs. "Well, if the social worker or anyone at your school asks too many questions, I can always tell them it's their fault that they let you slip out of the system. They were fucking negligent, so they have absolutely no right to stop me from taking you in."

Peter's blood runs cold.

He knows Mr. Stark is really, really upset and blames the people who Peter tricked with his story about Aunt Julia. The man told Peter that he didn't blame him; it was absolutely understandable that he didn't want to go into the system, no sane person would ever want that. But he was really mad at the people who let themselves fooled by Peter and decided not to ask the questions they should have. And honestly, Peter is really, really happy that Mr. Stark feels so mad on his behalf. That he hates the people who should have helped Peter but didn't. For the first time in a while, the boy finally knows there's someone who protects him and looks out for him.

But it doesn't mean he wants Mr. Stark to confront those people.

"Sir, I thought we agreed that you wouldn't bring that up!" he protests. "I'm telling the story to Ned and you're telling it to-"

"To the adults?" Mr. Stark rolls his eyes. "I still don't understand why you want to protect those assholes that couldn't do their damned jobs, but I respect your choice. I don't agree with it, though."

"Yeah, you made it pretty clear last night when you called them ignorant fuckers."

"Language, kid, language!" Mr. Stark staggers back in mock annoyance. "Those words are not allowed to leave your mouth until you're 18. Or 21. I don't know, I'll have Friday to see what the law says."

Peter snorts. "Let's just stick to the story, please?"

He hopes Mr. Stark understands that he just doesn't want to talk about that recent chapter of his life. He didn't really have a choice and he survived, but he's not proud of what happened to him. While he was living on the streets, he didn't want anyone to know about his situation and now that he has a roof above his head, he still doesn't want people to know that he was once a homeless kid. No matter whose fault it was.

"Peter, your friend has arrived, he's in the lobby," Friday announces.

"Th-thanks, Friday," the boy stutters, unable to move his feet, hands fidgeting again.

Mr. Stark rolls his eyes again. "Friday, be a dear and ask the receptionist to send up Mr. Leeds. Peter, are you sure you're up to this?"

No, he's not. He knows he's not. But he doesn't really have a choice. He owes Ned an explanation. He owes him the truth, but as he can't offer that, the least he should do is to give some kind of explanation to him.

And it's Ned, for God's sake! His best friend, he knows him for ages, it shouldn't be this hard to talk to him. Peter might have gained a few more minutes until Ned arrives, but now he feels like a jerk because he couldn't even go down to welcome his friend in the lobby. He should have done that; Ned must feel really confused now. He was obviously shocked when Peter texted him to come to the Tower. He had tons of questions and Peter promised to give him answers later.

And he has to do that now, he can't stall any longer. He needs to get over with it. But it's hard. Maybe because he's about to feed Ned with more lies? Should he tell him the truth like Mr. Stark suggested? No, Ned would be so sad.

The elevator doors open and Ned is there. His jaw drops as he takes a look around in the penthouse. He gives Peter a tiny grin and then his eyes grow even wider when he spots Mr. Stark on the couch. The man gives him a small wave and his trademark charismatic smile.

"Hey Ned," Peter finally manages and walks to his friend.

They greet each other with their complicated, secret handshake and Mr. Stark watches them smiling.

"This is Mr. Stark," Peter says gesturing at the man. The boy knows the introduction is not necessary; literally everyone in the world knows who Tony Stark is, but that doesn't mean he should forget about his manners, right?

Ned stares at the man star struck. "Hey, Mr. Iron Man. I mean Mr. Iron Stark. Mr. Stark. Hey, Mr. Stark," he stammers.

"Hi Ned," the man nods and gives Peter an amused look that indicates he now understands why Ned is his best friend. Peter just rolls his eyes and ushers Ned into his room.

"Alright, kids, let me know if you need anything" Mr. Stark says, grabbing a tablet from the coffee table.

Once Peter closes the door behind them, Ned walks around in his room, slowly taking in every little detail. He finally stops at the window, admiring the breathtaking view to the skyscrapers around them.

"It's awesome, dude," he whispers in awe. "You live in Mr. Stark's tower. You live _with_ Mr. Stark! With the Avengers! You're so cool, man. How did this happen?" he asks turning back to his friend.

Peter is still standing by the door, fists clenching in anxiety. He can't stop staring at the floor and according to Mr. Stark it is the number one sign that he's about to lie. Well, the man's not wrong. Hopefully, Ned won't notice anything.

Peter already told his friend that he lived at the Tower, but he didn't give any explanation. Now it's time to tell his cover story and see if it really works.

"Well, you know there was this internship," he starts, walking to his bed and sitting down. He tries to look away from the floor and he succeeds. He realizes he can actually look at other things in the room, like the walls, the desk, the couch, his backpack on the floor, his books, literally anything as long as he doesn't have to look at Ned. He might be able to pull it off after all. "I saw it on the website of Stark Industries last year. I applied but I thought I wouldn't get it, because they surely wanted smarter kids than me."

Ned snorts as if Peter told a joke and settles on the couch. "You didn't tell me about this."

"No, I didn't tell anyone because like I said I thought I wouldn't get it anyway. I thought it didn't matter. It was a long time ago, back when May was… alive. But they called and said Mr. Stark wanted to see me. And I came here to the Tower and Mr. Stark said he was working on some kind of secret stuff and-"

"With the Avengers?" Ned interjects in shock.

"Yeah, yeah," he replies like it's not a big deal. Peter hopes Ned doesn't find it weird that he's not freaked out like he is. He hopes Ned doesn't realize he is not freaked out, because this whole story is not true. "Upgrading suits and weapons, that kind of stuff', he continues. "And Mr. Stark wanted me to help, but because it was top secret, I had to sign a bunch of non-disclosure agreements. He talked to May, too, because I'm a minor, so…" God, he feels so bad that he's dragging May into this, too. But he has to. "Anyway, I started to work here, I mean in Mr. Stark's lab, a few times a month."

"Man, it's so cool!" Ned cheers. "It's even cooler than cool. You. Working with Mr. Stark. On the Avengers' gears. Geez, you're the luckiest kid in the world!"

Peter gives him a small smile. He is definitely lucky that Mr. Stark took him in, but all the stuff before that… he doesn't consider himself lucky for going through all that shit.

"So problem is," he continues. "Aunt Julia's husband got a great job offer, but it's in LA."

The smile immediately falls from Ned's face. "Wait, you're not moving to LA, right?"

Peter shakes his head and grins a little. Why would he have a room here at the Tower if he was moving to LA? But Ned must be incredibly stunned and confused now and Peter can't blame him.

"Julia and her family are moving to LA. It's an opportunity they can't pass. But I didn't want to go. I have my school here but more importantly, my friends," he explains finally looking up at Ned and smiling at him.

"And you have the coolest internship ever," Ned reminds him.

"Yeah, that too," Peter replies nonchalantly. "Anyway, I told Mr. Stark about it. I told him that I would have to leave and he needed to find a new intern. I thought I didn't have a choice, I'm still a kid, if my family is moving, I'm moving, too, right? Mr. Stark wasn't happy about it, either. He talked to Julia and she let me stay in the city. With Mr. Stark."

Peter sighs. That's the end of the story. He could tell it after all. He did exactly what Mr. Stark advised.

Short sentences, very few details, never saying more than necessary.

He did it. He can be proud of himself. He has just pulled off a huge lie. To his best friend. Yeah, he should be really proud of himself.

"Wow," Ned wonders. "It's so amazing. That Mr. Stark took you in. I mean you're just his intern and it's so big. Living here with him. It's just unbelievable what he did for you."

Peter's stomach crunches. Ned is obviously impressed but he has involuntarily pointed out the one detail in the story that Peter also finds unbelievable. Honestly, he finds the whole story unbelievable but this point? This is the farthest from the truth. Because Ned is right. Who would believe that Mr. Stark took him in? _Him?_ Really? The invisible boy? No one will ever believe that.

Maybe it's not too late to back out. To come up with something. Julia's husband has decided not to take the job after all and they're all staying in Brooklyn. Peter can stay with them, too. And in reality, he'll go back to the warehouse and to his old life. That would be so much more believable than Mr. Stark taking him in. It was a mistake to think he could get away with this story. Such a huge mistake.

"Anyway," Ned says breaking into his thoughts. "There's only one thing that matters. I mean it's really amazing that you live here now, Flash is gonna be so jealous, dude... But are you happy, Peter? Because that's really the only important thing here."

Peter glances at his friend and swallows hard. Because there's worry written all over on Ned's face, genuine worry. He has put the fanboying aside, he obviously doesn't care where they are right now, he doesn't care there's an Avenger in the other room. All that matters to him is Peter's happiness.

And Peter has lied into his face.

What kind of friend is he? A very bad one, evidently.

But he doesn't want to be that. He has so few people in his corner, probably just Mr. Stark and Ned and he doesn't want to lose any of them. He needs them. He needs people in his life, people who care about him. For a long time, he tried to convince himself that he didn't need anyone, he could take care of himself and yes, he felt lonely but he could take it. Life's tough, but he could manage.

But it's so much easier if he has some people to lean on. To trust, to turn to, to talk to. Wouldn't it be better if he had Ned, too? If he could share his problems and more importantly, his secrets with him? If he didn't have to avoid him? If he could talk to him without worrying about blowing his cover? If he didn't need a cover at all?

And… doesn't Ned deserve the truth? His trust?

And isn't telling him the truth the right thing to do? Isn't Peter supposed to do the right thing?

So he makes a decision, a decision that he should have made a long time ago.

He tells Ned everything, he tells him the truth, starting from the day when May died.

Long sentences, plenty of details, saying more than necessary.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, we have Ned now, too. Peter needs his best friend, right? Next, I might introduce someone else. I like when it's just Tony and Peter, but other characters might show up sometimes.
> 
> Anyway, please, please, leave me a review, I need to know if you liked the chapter.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends! Here's a new chapter for you. I'm sorry for the delay, but you know… life. Plus, there are some other projects I'm working on. But the point is this story has just been updated, so enjoy :)
> 
> Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel. I wish.

Tony is watching the kid eating his breakfast. Eggs, bacon and pancakes. During his playboy years, Tony became a pro at breakfast foods. Now that skill of his comes in handy with Peter living here. Kid needs proper breakfast, not black coffee, right?

Sitting at the kitchen table, Peter practically devours his food. Old habits die hard. Tony thinks it will take a long time until the kid slows down and actually starts enjoying food. Until he realizes he doesn't have to eat fast, because there'll be always enough food.

Peter's backpack is at his feet on the floor. He's ready to go back to school.

Tony is watching him smiling, his hands clasping a coffee mug as always. This is his new normal, _their_ new normal, he thinks to himself. From now on, every day will begin like this. Having breakfast, Peter going to school. Almost like a normal family, right? Tony is still having a hard time believing how much his life has changed in a few days. This kid has brought things into his life he never wanted: responsibility, stability and normality. Things that Tony needs to provide for the kid. He feels like Peter has made him grow up all of a sudden. And weird is, he doesn't really mind. It scares him, yes, but he wouldn't want it any other way.

"Boss, Happy Hogan is on his way up here," Friday reveals.

Peter looks up from his plate and his eyes shoot up at Tony. He looks confused and maybe a bit scared, too.

"Relax, kid," Tony assures him.

He knows Peter doesn't really like changes, he said that himself. Plus, Barton told Tony kids needed stability in general and he knows Peter is kinda allergic to changes. Not that he could blame him, change has equaled tragedy and loss in his short life.

And an unknown person showing up unexpectedly is definitely a minor thing compared to the other changes in the kid's life, but it's still a change Peter is apparently not enthusiastic about.

Tony frowns because he knows Happy's usual grumpiness won't help either.

The elevator doors open and their guest steps out. He starts walking towards them, but as soon as he spots Peter, he comes to an abrupt halt.

"Who's this?" he asks, pointing at the kid.

"And good morning to you, too, Happy," Tony shakes his head, offering coffee to the man. "He's Peter. He's staying with me and he needs a ride to school."

Both Happy and Peter stare at him in shock.

"I'm not a babysitter!" Happy protests.

"I don't need a ride!" Peter complains.

Tony sighs. "Okay, everybody calm down. Peter, Happy here is my driver. It's literally his job to give you a ride if I tell him so."

Obviously, Peter doesn't like this, though. "But Mr. Stark, don't you think it's too much if a driver takes me to school? It will look so weird."

Tony leans closer to the boy. "Weirder than swinging there with your webs?" he whispers, so that Happy can't hear him.

"I can take the subway," Peter suggests.

"Yeah, like I would allow that," Tony snorts and turns to his driver. "Happy, how many cars do I have in the garage?"

"Thirty-six," the man grumbles.

"See? I can definitely let Happy take one of them and give you a ride to school."

"It's not that," Peter lowers his head. "I just… don't want to… raise attention."

Tony smiles. This kid is unbelievable. When Tony was at his age, he loved arriving at school with a flashy, expensive car, he loved when the other kids watched him with their jaws dropped as he got out and walked up to the building. He enjoyed attention. And how ironic it is that he's stuck with a boy who is exactly the opposite: he wants to avoid attention. Tony has no doubt who's the better person out of the two of them. Kid has a great potential. Much greater than Tony ever had.

"Okay, Hap, drop off the kid a block away from school," he instructs his driver while still watching Peter with a fond smile on his face. "Will that work for you, buddy?"

Peter gives a small nod while staring at his feet shyly.

Tony sighs. He obviously couldn't calm the kid, he should try harder. He leans on the table and looks the boy in the eye. "Listen, Peter, I know Happy seems scary and terrifying… He's rolling his eyes at me now, right?" he smirks and waits until Peter looks up at Happy and nods grinning. "Okay, kid, please don't judge him based on his grumpy attitude. It's just a disguise that he likes for a reason I don't understand myself. You'll get used to it. But he's a good guy. I would trust him with my life. Seriously."

Peter nods and reaches for his backpack. "Okay."

Tony sighs relieved. He might overrate it, but he honestly thinks it's huge that the kid trusts someone just because Tony said he could. Yeah, he's Iron Man and people usually believe the Avengers, but he guesses the kid sees him more as Tony and not as a superhero whose job is to be the good guy.

"Good. Have a nice day at school," he says.

He hopes everything's gonna be fine. He had a meeting with the principal and a social worker yesterday. He took one of his lawyers with him, mostly to remind him not to lose his temper. But even that couldn't stop him from feeling furious before the meeting and he was really, really close to storm into the principal's office and flip the guy's desk. Then his phone buzzed and there was a short text from Peter. ' _Please, Mr. Stark.'_

And that immediately sobered him. He adjusted his tie, put a huge, fake smile on his face and entered the office. He told the story about the internship and Aunt Julia's moving, he told about his arrangement with Julia and stated that Peter had already moved in. Which – despite his polite smile that he was wearing all along – could be interpreted as _everything has been settled already, it's not your business, stay out of it just like you stayed out of Peter's life when he needed your help and screw you, assholes_.

There was a long silence in the office after Tony had finished his story. He was ready to bring out the big guns, death threats and stuff like that. But then the principal and the social worker looked at each other and they did exactly what they had done before. They just let it go without any questions. Just like before, they chose the easier way. Why fussing over it, when it's already sorted out, right?

And when Tony shook their hands, he disguised his low opinion on them under a fake smile again, happy to leave that place behind.

On his way out of the school, he ran into Ned Leeds in the hallway. He winked at the boy and Ned gave him a small smile before walking away with a tall, curly-haired girl.

Of course, Peter's decision to tell the whole truth to Ned was the right one. Just like Tony had predicted, Ned forgave Peter right away and the two boys had a really long conversation that lasted until dinner. Tony provided them the best dinner he could: he ordered pizza and while they were eating, he listened to the kids discussing school, Star Wars and Lego stuff. Tony was happy to see that Peter could be just a regular kid with Ned. With his extraordinary life, Peter deserves moments like that.

And of course, their secret was safe with Ned. That boy was way too happy to be a part of a conspiracy. His words, obviously.

But it didn't mean that Peter wanted to let anyone else in school know the truth. He insisted on Mr. Stark telling the story about Julia at the meeting and the man didn't protest. It's not like it was the first lie in his life. And as long as it helped Peter feel more comfortable, he could do it without hesitation.

"Don't you think you owe me an explanation?" Happy grunts, breaking into his thoughts.

Tony walks to the man and pats him on the shoulder. "All you need to know is, Hap, that Peter needs to go to school and you're driving him. And picking him up in the afternoon. He's a good kid, so I would appreciate if you didn't terrorize him during the ride, okay?"

"Is he your son or something? An old flame left him on your doorstep? Shouldn't you run a DNA-test first?" Happy objects whispering.

Tony glances over at Peter who is already at the elevator, looking embarrassed. The kid told him about his enhanced hearing and he has no doubt that Peter could hear everything Happy has just said.

"He's 15, Happy, he couldn't be left on my doorstep. And no, he's not my son. He's a kid who needed help and yes, I'm trying to help him. That's it. Now please, drive him to school, he would hate to be late. I would do it myself, but I have a conference call that I couldn't pass. Not after already backing out of Singapore… anyway, chop-chop, go now, Hap."

The driver rolls his eyes once again and strides to the elevator.

Tony looks at Peter and gives him the thumbs up and a smile. The boy smiles back but he looks anxious watching Happy enter the elevator before him.

As the doors close behind them, Tony buries his head in his hands. Gosh, he really hopes it was not the last time he saw the kid alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So did you like it? Now we have Happy, too :) And another character had a cameo, I hope you caught that. Anyway, we will stay with Tony for now, he will introduce someone again (so many new characters after just him and Peter for a very long time) and soon there will be some angst, before you could get bored with all the fluff.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm back with a new chapter. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas (btw, did you read my festive story?). Now it's time to go on with this one, I might have included a tiny bit of angst. I hope you'll like it.
> 
> Anyway, thanks again for the support.
> 
> Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel. I wish.

When the conference call is finally over, Tony decides to check if Peter has survived the trip with his grumpy driver. Sure, he would know by now if something had happened, but there's no harm in asking the kid. Plus, Tony feels bad that he couldn't drive him himself. He should have done that. This is Peter's first day back at school since he moved into the Tower. As a responsible parent, Tony should have been the one giving him a ride. Wait, what? _Parent?_ Sounds so strange. But isn't that what he's supposed to be now? No matter how weird it sounds. Tony Stark is a parent. Huh. Who would have thought that?

He could text Happy, too but he's not that worried about him. He's been with Tony long enough and nothing surprises him anymore. Happy has often teased him that Tony's playboy years will come back to haunt him and one day he's gonna find a kid on his doorstep. Or an angry single mother demanding child support.

And Tony has a feeling that people will think the same when they meet Peter. They'll think that he's Tony's son from an old affair. Whatever. Tony has never really minded what people think. Most of them have never had a good opinion on him anyway. He just hopes no one will tease Peter.

On second thought, why would they? Anyone can see Peter is not his child. This quiet, nice kid with impeccable manners? Come on, there's absolutely no resemblance between them.

He quickly types a short text to Peter before remembering that the kid might get into trouble for texting back in class. But Peter does reply. " _I'm okay. Happy didn't say anything. Just stared at me in the rearview mirror. Was a bit creepy :)"_

* * *

It's already afternoon when Tony makes himself call Pepper. In the last few hours, he has managed to come up with dozens of excuses. He has the conference call. Pepper has a meeting. The reception in Asia must be pretty bad. Pepper's in a different time zone, she must be asleep. Now she's on a plane. Tony has some documents to read first. He has to check out something with one of his suits. With Peter's suit.

He really doesn't want to talk to Pepper. Once again, she would tell him that taking in a kid is over the top. There would have been other ways to help Peter. He should have called her first, should have asked her opinion. Taking care of a kid is a big deal. And Tony couldn't even keep a plant alive. It's more than just letting him sleep in the guest room and feeding him a few times a day. Just like Happy, Pepper is used to cleaning up Tony's mess and she never hesitates to call him out on his shit.

But he promised to call her and he definitely needs her help, so breaking his promise wouldn't be a good idea.

"Wow, Tony, you ran out of reasons why not to call me?" Pepper says answering the phone.

"You know me too well, Potts," he shrugs. "That's why I don't understand why you needed a break," he adds sourly.

"Maybe that's exactly the reason, have you ever thought of that?" she snaps back, but he can hear a smile in her voice. It's just their usual banter. Maybe Pepper was right when she suggested friendship instead of a relationship. Maybe it's really better this way. "How's Peter?" she asks.

"Surprisingly good. I mean he's alive; I gave him breakfast and asked Happy to drive him to school."

"That's great. I mean the fact that he's still breathing. But seriously, Tony, how is he? Mentally?"

"Well, he hasn't run away yet, I guess that's a good sign," he jokes.

"Why are you saying that?" she asks, not laughing.

"Pepper, in the last few days you've pointed out several times that it would be better for Peter if he didn't stay with _me_."

"That's not what I said," she protests.

"Well, maybe those weren't the exact words but-"

"I'm just worried, Tony. About both of you. I'm worried because if this doesn't work out, that could hurt you both."

"And you think there's a high chance that it won't work out."

Pepper sighs. "There's a chance, yes. I mean Peter might be a nice kid and I'm sure he is, but he's been through a lot. Plus, he's a superhero. You can't say he's an average kid. And you? You're Tony Stark. No one could be further from average," she laughs.

Tony smiles. "You're right, Pep. About both of us. But maybe that's exactly why this _will_ work out in the end, you know?"

There's a long silence on the other end of the line before Pepper finally answers. "You know what, Tony? You might be right. You both have your own issues. But maybe that's why you could be great together."

"Yeah, Pep, I hate to say I told you so… no, scratch that, I love saying that," he grins. "And I told you I just couldn't let CPS send Peter to a random foster family. Yes, he's been through a lot and I'm sure there are plenty of people who are much better at dealing with kids with tons of emotional baggage. But he's also a superhero and he needs someone who helps him with that side of his life, too."

Pepper smiles. "That's not what I meant, though. I mean yes, the superhero stuff certainly narrows down the possibilities for Peter. But you said Peter had emotional baggage? Hate to break it to you, Tony, you have that, too. And that's why you could be a good fit. You might actually help each other."

"Don't do that, Pep," Tony groans.

"Do what?"

"Don't set such high expectations. I thought if I could keep Peter alive until he's 18 that would be enough. Now I am supposed to help him work his way through his issues, too?" Tony expresses mock shock.

Pepper laughs. "You'll be fine, Tony. "

"Thanks, Pep."

"And Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about earlier. I mean when I implied that you couldn't do this. Because you can. I'm sure about it. You did the right thing."

"Thank you."

"I was just shocked, you know? Because it's big. It's really big," she explains.

"Yeah, that's why I'm freaked out all the time, Pep," the man laughs nervously.

"That means you care, Tony. But you can do this. You're a good man and you've got this. And you've got help, don't forget that. You can call me anytime. And not just when you need help with legal issues or the press, alright?"

Tony lets out a big breath. "Thank you, Pepper. I appreciate it. I really do."

Suddenly, Friday's voice interrupts their conversation. "Sorry, boss, you have an incoming call from Happy Hogan."

Tony frowns. Why is Happy calling him? He can't pick up the kid for some reason? Has something happened to Peter?

"Listen, Pepper, I'm sorry but I gotta take this," he says on the verge of panic.

"Sure, Tony, call me later," she answers and hangs up.

The man glances at the clock. Happy was supposed to meet Peter about twenty minutes ago.

"Hey, Hap, is everything alright?" he asks his driver, answering his call. He desperately tries to remain calm. No need to freak out. No one died. Hopefully.

"Tony, we've got a problem," Happy replies uneasily.

And there goes his calmness.

"Elaborate," Tony snaps.

"I was waiting for the kid at the same spot where I had dropped him off this morning. He was late. And then another kid showed up, his name was Ned or Ted or something. He told Peter wouldn't come because he wanted to be alone for a while. And he gave me Peter's backpack. What should I do, boss?"

What just happened? Is Peter gone? For good? Why? Did Tony do or say something wrong? Has he already screwed up just like he thought he would?

But more importantly, where's the kid now? Is he safe? Is he in danger?

Tony can't breathe. His hands are shaking. He feels nauseous. A panic attack. He knows all the symptoms, there's nothing new about them. Not the first time in his life and probably not the last one, either. Panic attacks have been a part of his life since forever. But now? He so doesn't have time for this! He can't allow it. He can't just break down and wait until the attack passes, because he has a kid to find.

So he closes his eyes, takes a few deep breaths and visualizes Peter in his mind. He uses this image as an anchor to get him through the panic attack. He reminds himself that Peter needs him now. Okay, just one more deep breath. He's getting there.

"Tony?"

Right, Happy's still there waiting for an answer. He sighs and runs his hands through his hair. Happy can't do anything. It's not that Peter would just walk up to his car later and how could Happy find the kid? So he tells the driver to return to the Tower.

Then he orders Friday to track down Peter's suit and phone. He has a feeling it won't help though and he's right. Both items are in Peter's backpack, that's why Ned gave it to Happy. Ned. He needs to call that kid. Of course.

"Ned?" he asks anxiously, pacing up and down in the living room.

"Mr-Mr. Stark?" the kid answers in shock, even though he must have expected the call. But Ned was in such awe when they met at the Tower, so it might have freaked him out that Tony actually called him.

"I guess you know why I called you, kid," he says impatiently.

"I-I… yes, of course, Mr. Stark. But… I don't know where Peter is. I swear."

Tony believes him. That kid seems simply unable to lie. It's not surprising that he's Peter's best friend.

"Did he say anything? Did something happen at school?" he inquires.

"No, nothing, sir. Peter looked fine all day. I mean he seemed happy to be back at school, we talked all day, I invited him over to watch Star Wars and he said yes. Everything was fine... He said your driver would pick him up after school? Happy? Is that a real name or made up? S-sorry, sir, I know that doesn't matter now. Anyway, we walked together to the car until… suddenly, he stopped, said he needed some time alone, gave me his backpack and asked me to give it to Happy. That's it, Mr. Stark, I swear."

"He ran away?"

"Ye-yeah. He didn't use webs if that's what you mean. He ran. Like a normal person. Can-can you track him down, Mr. Stark?"

"No, his suit and phone are in his backpack," Tony replies tiredly.

"Oh. I see. That-that makes sense. I mean I tried to call him a bunch of times, but it went straight to voicemail."

"Do you have any idea where he could be now, Ned?" the man probes. _Please, please give me something!_

"No, sir, I'm sorry. I mean… there was this time in Peter's life… you know, when he… when he lived on the streets… I-I didn't know anything about that. And he doesn't really talk about it. I mean… What I mean is that maybe he has many more secrets. He's my best friend, Mr. Stark. But I'm afraid I-I don't know him that much anymore."

Tony sighs. There's no anger in Ned's voice, just sadness. He definitely wants to help his friend but he doesn't know if he can. But it's okay. Because Peter is Tony's responsibility. It's his job to find the kid and bring him home.

"Alright, Ned. Thanks anyway."

"Mr. Stark? Please find Peter. I'm really worried about him," Ned says quietly.

"Yeah, that makes two of us. But I'm gonna find him, kid, don't worry," he promises.

And he knows that's exactly what's going to happen. There's no other option. He will find Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, I'm back! And first, I'd like to thank you for the support, you are amazing, guys!  
> So where were we? Peter went missing, let's see if Tony can find him.
> 
> Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel. I wish.

As soon as Tony hangs up the phone, he orders Friday to find the kid immediately. To check every camera available, ATMs, traffic cams, security cameras, everything. He still remembers the last time when he asked the same. When Peter went after the man who had hit his aunt. Tony should create a protocol that Friday could follow in cases like this and give it a cool name. Like Where's Waldo? However, it would be really great if Peter running away didn't become a regular thing. Yeah, that would be awesome. The tracker in his suit is obviously not enough. Tony should really have him microchipped. He could definitely sleep better then.

Friday quickly finds Peter; she pulls up footage from some cameras and there's the kid, running through the streets. But then the AI loses him.

"Friday, what happened?" Tony asks nervously.

"I'm sorry, boss, Peter reached an area where there are no cameras that I can use."

"Keep looking. He could show up anywhere."

He won't and Tony knows that. Peter is smart, he's probably aware that Friday can easily find him if he doesn't avoid cameras. The kid doesn't want to be found. What did Ned say? Peter needed some alone time, right?

But why? And why now? The morning with Happy's arrival might have been a bit awkward, but it certainly wasn't bad enough to make Peter run away, right? Did something happen at school? Ned said it hadn't, but what if Ned was wrong? And what if there was something wrong all along, but Tony didn't notice it? Does he really know Peter that well? Maybe the boy was only pretending that everything was fine.

But whatever made him run, Tony has to figure out where he could be now. Hopefully, the kid wouldn't leave the city. No, Peter made up a whole story about fake relatives just to make sure that he didn't have to leave New York. With any luck, he doesn't think the situation is bad enough to leave the city now. Where could he go? Some place without cameras? Probably in Queens, right?

Patrolling as Spiderman, Peter knows the area like the back of his hand. He might have plenty of good hiding spots. But his number one would be… the place he knows the most. Where he spent the last few months.

His warehouse.

* * *

Tony pulls up in front of the abandoned building. When he checked out the place a few days ago and gathered Peter's stuff, he hoped he would never have to return here. Even more, he hoped the kid would never come back here.

But if Peter's here and it's gonna be a thing that he regularly returns to this awful place, Tony might buy the entire area and renovate every damned building here. So that Peter could have his me-time under better circumstances and not in the company of rats and drug addicts.

Okay, that's something that the old Tony Stark would say, he would think money is always the solution. However, the new Tony Stark jumps out of the car to look for the kid, because that's the priority. Not to wrinkle his nose in disgust. So he strides toward the now familiar, smaller building.

"Friday, is he here?" he asks anxiously.

"I can detect a heat signature in the building."

"Second floor?"

"Yes, boss."

Tony sighs relieved. That's where Peter stayed. The man hopes it's really him and the place doesn't have a new resident who wouldn't appreciate his visit.

Now he doesn't stop all the time, feeling upset about this terrible place like when he came here first. He quickly finds his way through the garbage to the second floor, to the open area that once served as the kid's home.

The old mattress is still there in the corner. And on the mattress there's… Peter. He's sitting there, back against the wall, knees drawn to his chest, with his head down, staring at his feet.

He doesn't seem to register Tony's arrival, but the man knows this enhanced kid could never not notice his entry. He just probably doesn't care.

Tony slowly walks closer and then sits down on the floor. "Mind if I join you?" he carefully asks.

Peter doesn't look up at him, just shrugs.

Tony waits for the boy to speak, but he's not surprised when the kid remains silent. He's an impatient man, though, so he tries to start a conversation. "Hey, Pete-"

Suddenly, the kid's eyes shoot up at him. "I wasn't running away! I wanted to go back, I swear," he claims. There's regret in his voice. And tears in his eyes. "I just wanted to be alone," he adds, whispering.

"That's okay, kid," Tony replies calmly. "I get it. There's nothing wrong with that. But you need to understand you can't just disappear like that. I need to know where you are, bud. All the time."

Tony wants to add that he would prefer if Peter stayed alone in his room at the Tower and not in this damned building, but he decides not to say that now.

"Because now you're responsible for me?" Peter mutters.

The man remembers that's what he thought earlier, too. But it's more than that. "Yeah, I'm responsible for you, kid. But more importantly, I was worried about you. When Happy said you had left, I freaked out, Peter. I panicked."

The tears start to flow freely on Peter's cheeks. He quickly wipes them away with the sleeves of his hoodie. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

Tony honestly can't imagine what the kid thought. He disappears and Tony will be okay with that? He will just patiently wait for him to return? What parent would do that? But he guesses the kid is too upset to think straight now, so he might as well save the logical reasoning for later.

"Can you tell me what's wrong, buddy?" he asks instead. "A ride home with Happy would have been that terrifying?"

Peter smiles weakly. "Happy _is_ terrifying. But it's not that."

"Then what?" Tony probes. Geez, it's gonna take a lot of time to get to the bottom of the story. He realizes being a parent is practically a test of patience. And a lot of worrying.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, it's just…" the boy starts hesitantly. "It's just too much, you know? I mean everything that has happened in the last few weeks... I mean one day I'm here, in this warehouse and the next day I'm at the Tower, in a penthouse? I'm grateful, Mr. Stark, I really am, don't get me wrong, please... I'm sure now you think I'm a brat. I should be happy. And I am. Of course I appreciate the bed, the food and the warmth. So much. You have no idea."

Tony looks around and frowns. He doesn't want to imagine what it could have been like to endure winter in this place, with no windows. What it could have been like for Peter to go to sleep hungry and freezing. He doesn't want the kid to go through that ever again.

"When I was here, that's what I was dreaming about, Mr. Stark," the boy continues. "I wanted to have a home again. And I didn't want to be alone anymore... But I always wanted just a small room, you know? Something cozy. You should have seen the apartment where I was living with my aunt. That place was so tiny, Mr. Stark. And now I live in your penthouse? Where my room is bigger than our old apartment was? I don't deserve that, Mr. Stark. Seriously."

Tony smiles. Really? That's the kid's problem? That's the reason why he ran away? Because his life has become better than he expected? And honestly, he deserves this. He'd deserve so much more.

"And there's one more thing," Peter goes on. "I was used to being by myself, Mr. Stark. I never liked it, but I was used to it. No one knew about my secret identity until recently… But now? You, Dr. Banner, Ned and Miss Potts know. I guess Happy also suspects something. It's just…"

"Too much?" the man asks, remembering the kid's earlier words.

Peter nods. "It's not bad or anything, it's just…"

"Overwhelming?" Tony tries.

The boy nods again.

"And you don't know how to handle this," the man guesses.

Peter lowers his head. "I'm sorry. I know how ridiculous it sounds. Everything's good. Really. And I know I sound ungrateful and I'm sorry, Mr. Stark but-"

"It's okay, Pete, it really is," Tony says. He moves closer to the kid and gently squeezes his shoulder. "Hey, kid, look at me." He patiently waits until those big, tear-filled eyes find him and he gives Peter a reassuring smile. "It's okay to feel this way. It's totally okay, you hear me? There's absolutely nothing wrong with that and I would never think you're ungrateful, okay?" He waits again until the kid gives him a nod. "Pete, I know you hate changes. You told me that. And I know changes can be scary, even the good ones. It's normal to feel uncomfortable and overwhelmed, when things change around you. And God knows things have changed around you a lot recently. It's okay to need time to get used to something new. But you know there's only one change that really matters. That you're not alone anymore. I'm here for you, Pete, whenever you need me. Don't you ever forget that. And you can always tell me if there's something wrong."

"Thank you, Mr. Stark," Peter sniffs.

"Tony. You can call me Tony. I mean you live under my roof," the man grins. "Which brings us to another issue, kid. I understand why you ran away and I understand why you have come here. But please, don't you ever disappear like that again, okay? Like I said I always need to know where you are, kid. That's part of my job. And although it seems very tempting to have you microchipped, I really don't wanna do that. I want to trust you, kid. So I need you to tell me where you go. Always, Pete. Please."

"Sure, Mr. Stark. I'm sorry," Peter sniffs again. "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright, kid," Tony says and pulls Peter into a hug, but he can feel the boy is still way too tense. He rubs comforting circles on the kid's back and sighs relieved when Peter finally melts into the hug. Cherishing the moment, he decides not to point out that the kid called him Mr. Stark again. Maybe that's just another change that takes time to get used to.

"Okay, it's Friday, kid, so what would you think if we just stayed home all weekend? Just you and me? Spending all the time in the lab? Except when we watch movies and eat pizza? Huh? How does that sound to you?"

"That would be perfect, Mr. Stark," the boy murmurs against the man's jacket.

Tony smiles and ruffles Peter's hair. "Yeah, I agree, kid. It's gonna be perfect."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So our boys are happy again. At least until the next bump in the road.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely readers! Here's a new chapter for you. Let's see what Peter thinks about the latest events and if he can stay out of trouble. Okay, I guess we all know he can't :) Anyway, enjoy the story!
> 
> Thank you for the support, I love you guys!
> 
> Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel. I wish.

It's Tuesday night and Peter is chilling on one of his favorite rooftops, eating a granola bar. His life has become normal in the last few days. As normal as it can be while being Spiderman and living with Tony Stark at the Tower. But he goes to school and has a home again. He sleeps in a bed and doesn't have to worry about food anymore. It's awesome, it really is. His old life with Aunt May might be over, but he really like this new one. He hopes it'll last. He still has his doubts, though. Mr. Stark is not parent material, he said that himself. More than once. He said he worried that he wouldn't be good enough for Peter.

But Peter knows that's bullshit. Because Mr. Stark is kind and caring and compassionate and understanding and supportive like a parent should be. He's not the overconfident, arrogant smartass like he pretends to be at press conferences, no, he's a good man. He could have called CPS when he found out that Peter was a homeless kid, most adults would have done that. But Mr. Stark chose the hard way: he decided to take in Peter instead.

And the boy is really grateful. He has never stayed in a foster family but when he was living on the streets, he heard stories, he met kids who had run away from their foster homes. He knows finding a really good foster family is hard for any kid. Let alone for an enhanced teenager. What normal family would tolerate or even support a kid who wants to be a superhero by night?

What would have May done if the bite had happened before her death? She would have worried about him, sure, but would have she let him patrol as Spiderman? Peter thinks after some serious conversations (no, not fights), May would have understood the importance of Spiderman. With his weird powers, Peter just couldn't stay put not doing anything. He couldn't just not use his powers when he has the chance to help people. He feels responsible for the little guy. And May would have understood that. Being a nurse, helping people was her life, too.

Anyway, Peter knows he's really lucky. He doesn't have to live on the streets anymore, he has a really nice room and Mr. Stark makes amazing waffles. Plus, the man is okay with the Spiderman thing. He added some more rules to the curfew, but they're okay. For example, taking a break every now and then to eat something. Like this granola bar right now.

So things are okay. More than okay, everything's awesome. Peter feels it's like the happy ending of a movie, just before the end credits roll. This is like happily ever after.

But way too many bad things have happened to Peter and he knows good things never last forever. And this will come to an end, too. He remembers how he felt when he woke up at the Tower after Tony had told him that he could stay forever. Peter thought it was all a dream. A really good one. And he didn't want to wake up. Well, it still feels like a dream and he still doesn't want to wake up. But he knows he has to. Sooner or later.

In Peter's opinion, there are two possible scenarios. One day, Mr. Stark will realize living with a kid is too much trouble. The everyday routine that comes with a child is not for him. Getting up early every day, making breakfast, helping with homework, talking to teachers, allowing other kids to come over, making dinner… Peter doesn't think he's that much trouble, he doesn't really need help with his homework and he doesn't get into trouble at school, so his teachers don't have to call Mr. Stark, but still. Peter knows a kid is trouble, much more trouble than a puppy and Mr. Stark's life is crazy enough even without a kid, thank you very much. And yes, one day the man will realize this and Peter will have to go.

Or. More likely, Peter will screw up. He will let his emotions get the better of him and he will do something really stupid. Like the last time, when he ran away and hid in the warehouse. What did he think? How could he possibly think that Mr. Stark would be okay with that? Well, the answer is simple: he _didn't_ think. At all. And Peter tries really hard not to make a mistake like that again. He tries not to do anything stupid that might make Mr. Stark change his mind about taking him in. But who is he kidding? Of course he'll screw up. It's just a matter of time. Mr. Stark might be really cool and understanding but he won't tolerate Peter's shit forever.

Because there's so much to tolerate. Although May died more than half a year ago, he's still not over it. He still misses her. So much.

And after living on the streets for months, he's lucky enough to find a good home, but instead of feeling happy and relieved, what is he doing? He's running away, back to his cold and dirty hideout to cry, because it's too much. Pathetic.

And when he feels better, he goes out to patrol as Spiderman while all the other kids are safely tucked in their beds.

Yeah, Peter's not a hard case at all. Absolutely nothing extraordinary about him. He really doesn't make it that hard for Mr. Stark to take care of him. He doesn't give him any trouble. Yeah, sure.

Right, Mr. Stark said he would never kick him out. He said that when they were discussing those stupid rules. The man claimed no matter what Peter did, he would never send him away. But the boy thinks Mr. Stark didn't know what he was talking about. He didn't know how much trouble Peter could be.

So. It's just a matter of time until Mr. Stark kicks him out. And Peter won't even blame him. No, he'll understand.

Suddenly, a scream interrupts his train of thoughts. He immediately drops the last piece of the granola bar and pulls down his mask. He's ready for action. Actually, he feels relieved that he has something to distract him from his misery. Then he feels bad because he shouldn't be glad that someone is obviously in trouble.

"Karen, what's happening?" he asks, leaping over the ledge.

"Three men attacked a young woman two blocks from here. I checked a security camera footage, one of them has a knife," Karen informs him.

With his AI's help, Spiderman soon arrives at the scene. In a dark alleyway, three thugs are surrounding a woman in her late twenties; one of guys already has her bag in his hands. But they clearly want more. A man reaches for the girl's jacket and she screams again, stepping back from her attacker only to bump into another one behind her. That guy grabs her arms and she struggles to get out of his grip, but the man is strong and she can't get away from him.

"Didn't your mom teach you to treat a lady with respect?" Spiderman asks, crouching on the top of a van.

The man might be surprised by the superhero's arrival but he's definitely not scared. He strengthens his grip on the woman's arms and she hisses in pain. The goon's friend, the one with the knife steps forward, he probably wants to defend him from Spiderman. The third one is just clutching the handbag like it's some kind of precious treasure. He probably doesn't even know what to do. The weakest link, Spiderman thinks to himself.

"Okay, so this is the moment when you let the lady go and run," Spiderman implies what the criminals should do now. But they don't understand. Or don't want to. "Well, don't complain later that I didn't give you a chance to leave," the superhero shrugs.

He quickly shoots a web at the guy with the bag and webs him to a streetlight. The bag falls from his hands. One down, two more to go.

The man with the knife – a tall, skinny guy with a brown beanie – steps even closer to his friend, who moves back with the woman. Spiderman jumps off the van and lands in front of them. The goon with the knife raises his weapon threateningly.

"Relax, buddy," Spiderman says, holding up both of his hands in a mock surrender.

It's gonna be too easy. He'll just yank out the knife of Beanie's hands and go for the other guy. That one doesn't seem to have any weapon; it'll be easy enough to convince him to let the woman go. Scratch that. Something metallic is shining in that thug's hand, too. Where was his knife until now? Well, there goes Spiderman's plan. If he starts to fight with Beanie now, he might not be able to protect the woman from the other guy. He can't risk that.

"Why don't you let the lady go and we'll call it a night," Spiderman offers.

"Why don't you get lost, freak?" the criminal holding the girl snorts.

"You know I can't let you leave with her."

"But I like her," the man grins, pulling the woman closer. She squeezes her eyes shut, she probably tries to pretend that she's not even here, in this crazy situation.

Spiderman thinks hard. If there was no hostage, he could easily fight both of these guys. But he can't risk the thugs hurting the woman. He has to come up with a new plan.

"Karen," he mutters, "Could you create some kind of diversion?"

"Sure, Peter," the AI answers.

Suddenly, an alarm goes off further down the alley. The sound is way too loud for Spiderman's super hearing and he hopes it's too loud for the criminals, too.

"Nice, Karen," he praises the AI. Now he needs to move fast.

When the thugs turn to check out the noise, Spiderman immediately takes the opportunity to shoot a web at a fire escape and swings over the bad guys, landing behind them. The men are still distracted by the alarm and Spiderman can easily get the woman out of her attacker's grip. By the time the guy realizes what happened, the superhero has already pushed her behind his back.

Okay, now that the hostage is safe, he can fight the bad guys. He whispers to the girl to leave. As she hesitantly starts to back away, he's shielding her from the thugs who are still trying to get closer to them, holding out their knives. "Easy, easy," Spiderman says as if talking to wild animals.

Finally, the woman decides it's safe to run. She quietly thanks Spiderman and darts off. She even grabs her bag from the ground.

And now the fight begins. The men seem really angry now that their hostage has slipped away and they launch forward furiously. But Spiderman dodges most of their punches and their knives never touch him. Okay, he might take some pretty bad hits, but he's fine, it's alright, it's nothing he can't handle. He kicks out a knife from its owner's hand and he shoots a web to snatch the other one. The fight lasts only like three minutes and then the three criminals are webbed up as yet another gift for the police.

"Huh, that was fun," Spiderman remarks, dusting off his hands. "Maybe we can do this again some time? On second thought, maybe not. Don't steal bags and kidnap ladies, that's mean."

He shoots a web to another fire escape to leave the scene. It must be late and he has school tomorrow, maybe this has been enough for tonight.

"Karen, call the police, please, let them know that we have a nice surprise for them. And if you could also send them the security camera footage that you used before, that would be awesome."

Spiderman is already on a rooftop, ready to shoot another web to swing home when he realizes something is not right. Something is missing. But what? Maybe his AI knows what's wrong.

"Karen?"

There's no answer.

"Karen?" he tries again. Okay, now he's officially worried.

Then a script appears on his HUD.

"I'm sorry, Peter. One of the hits must have damaged my audio system. I'm afraid my voice is gone."

Oh shit. What has he done?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we go again.
> 
> Thank you for reading and let me know what you think, please.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends, I'm here again with a brand new chapter. So after the fight in the previous chapter, Peter's suit was damaged. Let's see what he's going to do about it.
> 
> Thank you for your kind support!
> 
> Disclaimer: no, I don't own Marvel. I wish.

It's 4am and Peter hasn't managed to repair his suit yet. He has school tomorrow – no, today – and he hasn't slept all night, desperately trying to come up with something to bring back Karen's voice. It would be probably easier if he could sneak into Mr. Stark's lab, that's where they always work on their suits and there are way more tools down there than in Peter's room, but no. Mr. Stark would notice that and ask what happened and Peter would have to come clean and admit that he has ruined the suit.

Mr. Stark never forgets to point out how amazing and unique Peter's suit is, it's one of the greatest things he has ever made and it's worth a lot. A multimillion dollar suit, that's what he called it several times.

And Peter has ruined it.

This is exactly what he's been afraid of. That he will do something really stupid and Mr. Stark will kick him out. Well, if he did that, Peter wouldn't blame him. He has just destroyed his suit, the best gift he has ever received.

Could he pay it back? He doesn't have his job at the store anymore; Mr. Stark assured Peter that he didn't need it. Maybe he was a fool to quit the job. But who is he kidding? With the money he earned there, he would never be able to pay for the ruined suit. Not even if he lived five hundred years. So it doesn't really matter if he still has the job or not.

Right, Peter always knew he would screw up. He just never thought it would happen this soon. He thought he would have a few nice weeks or even months at the Tower before his inevitable leaving. He takes a look around in his room. Well, it won't be _his_ room much longer. Shame. It's been really nice to stay here.

But he doesn't deserve it. He has taken away Karen's voice. Okay, he knows technically, it wasn't him but one of the goons who hit him on a wrong spot and it resulted in some kind of malfunction. But it was Peter in the suit, he should have fought better, he should have dodged that hit. It's his fault.

He remembers his long conversations with Karen back in the warehouse, when the AI was his only company, the only one who comforted him. And he knows Karen's not real, of course not, but she really feels like a friend. A very good one. And Peter took her voice.

There might be some tears watering the boy's eyes, but he quickly wipes them away. He has no time for this. He has to work on the suit, bring back Karen's voice and everything's going to be alright again. As if last night's fiasco has never happened.

And Peter won't have to tell Mr. Stark anything, he won't have to give the man a reason to send him away. Karen will never rat him out, he knows that. Friday, though… no, Friday promised Peter not to tell anything to Mr. Stark. And he has no choice but to believe her, even though she's not his but Mr. Stark's AI and she will always be more loyal to him than to Peter. Obviously.

But Peter has managed to convince Friday that losing Karen's voice is just a minor problem, something that he can easily fix and he will tell Mr. Stark everything later. No need to bother the man now. And as Mr. Stark went to bed surprisingly early and Friday also knows the man has trouble with sleeping, it was relatively easy to persuade the AI not to wake him up for such a nuisance.

Except… Peter has absolutely no idea how to fix the suit. He could call Ned, he knows his friend would gladly help him, but there's this crazy thing that Ned usually does at night: he likes to sleep.

Unlike Peter who has been up since last morning. If only he could find a way to bring back Karen's voice. He could still sleep an hour or two until school.

What should he do? Karen has been really helpful, as much as she can be now without her voice. But she can't find a solution, either. And Friday? She had an idea: asking Mr. Stark. Yeah, Peter guesses the man could probably fix the suit in five minutes, but no. He would think Peter is not responsible enough and he would take away the suit. Even worse, he would kick out the kid for being reckless and ruining one of his most amazing creations. The multimillion dollar suit.

He can't let that happen. Peter wants to stay. So much. The Tower has become the closest thing to home and Mr. Stark? He's like… a parent? The word feels strange on the boy's lips. But Mr. Stark is definitely the person who cares for Peter the most. And he can't risk losing him. He can't lose him, too… Peter wouldn't…

No, there's no need to go there just yet. He just needs to figure out how to repair the suit. Easy. He still has some time until school.

* * *

It's Friday night and Karen's voice hasn't returned yet. It's been what? Four days now? The fourth night in a row without any sleep. Gosh, Peter is so tired! Besides a few naps, he couldn't really sleep and now he understands why sleep deprivation is a form of torture. Because it _is_ torture.

And as Peter obviously can't let Mr. Stark know that he's screwed up, he has to go to school and patrol like nothing happened.

Thank God, he didn't have any tests at school this week. It was still incredibly hard to keep his eyes open during class. He considered ditching school and finding a place to sleep a bit instead, maybe he could have gone back to the warehouse, his old mattress might still have been there and he could have had a really nice nap… yeah, a nap sounded so tempting. Even in the warehouse. But it wasn't worth the risk. If he had ditched school, a teacher would have definitely called Mr. Stark and Peter would have had to admit everything.

And he has to patrol, too because if he didn't, Mr. Stark would get suspicious. Peter could find some kind of excuse, like he's feeling sick, but they both know Peter never really gets sick. Not anymore since the bite. Or he could say he's tired. Which would be true, right? That would be great, being honest for once. But what superhero would stay in for the night just because he's tired? Yeah, and the criminals would be like: _'okay, then we're not doing anything bad tonight, that wouldn't be fair'_. Sure. Like it works that way.

So Spiderman is still up for his regular crime fighting. And Karen's still out there with him, helping him as much as she can without her voice. And all the info that the AI provides on the HUD is still very helpful, it's just... Fighting criminals is a kinda fast business. You don't always have time to read before you need to react. So now Spiderman takes a bit more hits than before. But it's okay. It really is. There was a Spiderman before the amazing suit too, right? Before Karen appeared. And what if he's a bit slower because of the lack of sleep? He's got this. There's absolutely nothing to worry about.

Peter still misses Karen's voice, though. It's not the same without her kind, caring voice. There were way too many nights when she was the only voice that Peter heard and he misses hearing her so much.

Just a little more time, tough. Peter will fix the suit and bring back Karen's nice voice. He will. And then he can talk to her again.

And he can sleep again. He won't have to worry about falling asleep during breakfast with Mr. Stark. Or during the drive to school while a suspicious Happy observes him in the rearview mirror. Okay, Peter does fall asleep in the car all the time. Not just because he's so damned tired but also because in this way he doesn't have to endure Happy's constant stare. Which is borderline creepy.

He wishes he could finally find a way to fix the suit! After the first sleepless night, the boy asked Ned and he had some good ideas. But unfortunately none of them worked. Ned is still very helpful, he keeps suggesting new ways to repair the damage but he hasn't been successful so far. He's a good friend, though and he doesn't give up brainstorming. He's always eager to stay up and text Peter throughout the night to find a solution together. But Peter always tells him to go to bed because he needs someone to wake him up in case he falls asleep during class. That always works. And Ned goes to bed while Peter keeps working.

It's a miracle that Friday hasn't said anything to Mr. Stark yet. Peter has asked her really nicely and told her that it is for the best. Peter just doesn't want Mr. Stark to worry. The man has such a stressful life, and this is really not that important, they shouldn't trouble him with this. And surprisingly, Friday has agreed. Peter sometimes thinks that the AI will go behind his back and tell everything to her boss, but the fact that Mr. Stark hasn't stormed into Peter's room yet proves that Friday has kept her promise.

And to the kid's luck, the man's had a busier week than usual. More meetings, even a short trip to DC. Mr. Stark had to skip three dinners and two breakfasts during the week. And Peter would have been really sad about it, if those missed meals hadn't given him time to nap. Okay, he was sad. No matter how exhausted he is, spending time with Mr. Stark is always better than sleeping.

But Peter knows he can't go on like this for long. He really needs to come up with something. Before either Friday decides to alert Mr. Stark or he collapses from exhaustion. The kid really wants to avoid both scenarios.

* * *

It's 6.20am, the sun has already come up. Another sleepless night has passed and poor Karen is still voiceless. Peter leans back in his chair and yawns. He glances over his shoulder. His bed looks so inviting. Could a bed look more wonderful than this one? Could pillows look softer, could blankets look warmer than these?

The boy sighs and folds his head in his arms. He is about to doze off, just a little bit, sleeping a minute or two, but no… he can't rest just yet. Only when Karen's voice is back. It's Saturday morning, which means breakfast will be later, so he has some time to work. And there are still a few circuits he could give a try to. He might as well go on with the work.

"Hello, Peter," Karen's nice voice suddenly fills the air.

Peter drops the tools from his hands and his mouth falls open.

"Congratulations, Peter, you have brought back my voice," Karen says happily.

"K-Karen, is that… really you?" the kid asks stunned. He has honestly no idea how he did it, which circuit was to blame. Was it something that he should have notice at the beginning? Was it something that Mr. Stark could have fixed in a minute? Probably. But it doesn't matter anymore. All that matters is he has finally fixed the suit himself after four sleepless nights. Karen's back. She is really back.

"It's me, Peter," the AI confirms joyfully.

"Oh, Karen, I wish I could hug you now! I'm so happy to hear your voice again!" the boy cheers. "You have such a beautiful voice, you know that?"

"Thank you, Peter," Karen replies kindly. "And may I suggest going to bed now? You could still sleep a few hours before breakfast."

Now that he is reminded of sleeping, the kid can't help yawning again. "You're right, Karen. You know what? Thank God, it's Saturday. I'm gonna sleep all weekend. I'll get up for meals but other than that I'm gonna sleep until Monday morning."

"That's an excellent idea, Peter," Karen agrees.

The boy slowly gets up, drags himself to the bed and crawls under the blankets. Just a second later, he's already asleep, dead to the world. But even in his sleep, a small, satisfied smile refuses to leave his face.

But his peaceful rest only lasts so long. Maybe it's a few hours later, maybe just a few minutes have passed when there's a knock on his door. He groans and buries his head under a big pillow. No, he won't get up. It's impossible that it's already breakfast time. But if it is, he'll skip breakfast. He's not even hungry.

But the knock is followed by another one and then his door opens a bit. It must be Mr. Stark, he doesn't have to check. Who else could it be?

"Peter?"

Yeah, it's really him. Mr. Stark.

"Listen, bud, I know it's Saturday and I would love to let you sleep longer, even though it's 11am already, but I know teenagers need to sleep a lot and you, kid even more… Anyway, there's someone here who wants to meet you. And I'm pretty sure you would love to see him, too. Plus, I've made your favorite waffles, so chop-chop."

Peter presses himself against the mattress. "You know, Mr. Stark, unless it's one of the Avengers, I'm not coming, sorry."

The man snorts. "Well, last time I checked, I _am_ an Avenger, so… but I guess you're lucky, kid because you can meet another one."

Peter slowly moves and peeks out from under his pillow.

Mr. Stark casually leans against the doorframe with an amused look on his face and a coffee mug in his hand. "So what do you say, kid? Would you crawl out of that nest of yours for the Incredible Hulk?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So did you like it? Leave me a comment, please. And I know we have already met Bruce but we like him, right?
> 
> Next, we're going to see this morning from Tony's POV, okay?
> 
> Thank you for reading.


End file.
